The first gathering of the PRR Trash Hounds was held at 1 p.m. on Saturday November 6, 2004. Sixteen PRR members met on a cool sunny day at the Palouse Empire Mall. After receiving interminable legal (and required) instructions from our fearless leader, Nancy Chaney, everybody signed the ITD untimely death waiver and got on with cleaning up the highway. We worked from the Washington state line to Tidyman's, minus the city bit.

Finished about 3 p.m. and repaired to Branegans for beer and bread sticks. After several pitchers of beer, it was decided to celebrate the impending union of PRR'ers John "Rocket" Francis and Caye Poe. This event will take place on November 13 near Portland. A large hand-lettered greeting card was made out of an old beer carton, and the card & grime-laden Trash Hounds were digipic'd (click links below) for posterity. We trust that John & Caye will feel appropriately celebrated, and wish them well in their future life together.

Many thanks to the Trash Hounds for making the day a success, and special thanks to Nancy for organizing the whole thing. PRR members who feel guilty about failing their civic duty can redeem themselves next spring. The PRR will be doing the Adopt-a-Highway thing twice a year.

Photos from the Trash Meet

Notes from Nancy Chaney:
Thanks to all who participated in our first Highway Clean-Up on Sat. Nov. 6. It was a great success! Sixteen volunteers enjoyed near perfect weather conditions and picked up 10 bags of trash in just under two hours. Afterwards, most of the volunteers met for pizza and beer at Branegan’s. It was fun. Really!

PRR is committed to cleaning up three miles of Highway 8 from the Washington-Idaho border on the west to milepost 3, near Tidyman’s former location. Idaho Transportation Dept. provides safety vests, signs, and trash bags. We provide volunteers twice each year. Our next clean-up will be in the spring, after the snow leaves, but before too much spring growth obscures winter’s trash. If you are interested in participating and would like to be on a reminder list, contact event coordinator Nancy Chaney at nchaney@moscow.com or 882-9350.