Greenville Rising: December 13
By Meg Upon
Snow. Feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a week like this. Also feels odd that Quincy is out of power, but Indian Valley is fine. When is that ever the case? Our minds reach to dark humor—at least if we need to go to Quincy there will be less traffic stops with the storm and we’ll get there quicker.
Prior to the snow this week more lots were cleaned and down to dirt. Waste Management has resumed its regular schedule so residents remaining are no longer playing the ‘let’s guess what day the trash will be picked up.’ Residents in Indian Valley on the mail route are receiving their mail again.
Post Office Boxes
But what about the 300 or so post office box holders in Greenville? When will they no longer be required to sometimes take four hours out of their day with road work to pick up their mail in Quincy? Despite routes resuming in Indian Valley and despite regular mail being delivered to the Taylorsville and Crescent Mill post offices, where arguably Greenville post office box holders should be able to pick up their mail, Greenville post office box holders are still being required to schlep it to Quincy in order to pick up daily mail.
A more equitable system of delivery would be to have Greenville post office box holders pick up their mail at either the Taylorsville or Crescent Mills post offices. In this way, less people are on the roads and post office box deliveries already have to be made to the two other Indian Valley post offices. So why not?
The newly named Dixie Fire Collaborative (formerly the Long Term Working Group) has identified mail delivery as a primary issue needing the attention of both local and federal officials. When one says one wants to support fire survivors, this is a tangible way to support fire survivors. Helping post office box holders get their mail on a timely basis without navigating winter roads is a great way to help out.
Gasoline
Another issue made a priority by the Dixie Fire Collaborative is the need for a gas station. We understand that Evergreen Market is working on one to open in March 2022, but what do residents do in the interim when traveling outside of town becomes treacherous?
In the interim, there will be free gas cards and propane exchange next to Evergreen Market on Sunday, Dec. 19 around noon, (this was posted online by Stephen Murray).
[Re] Build Greenville Meeting
There is a [Re] Build Greenville meeting tonight hosted by Supervisor Kevin Goss and the Dixie Fire Collaborative at the Greenville Elementary School cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16. If you can’t make the meeting, it will be recorded and it can be accessed via zoom. There are zoom links on the Rebuilding Greenville Resource Center facebook page. This is a great opportunity for residents to vocalize and strategize the future of Greenville.
Formerly known as the Long-term Recovery Group, the Dixie Fire Collaborative includes representatives of local, state and federal emergency organizations as well as local residents and volunteers. It is coordinating immediate activities and planning for the long-term recovery of communities that include Indian Falls, Canyon Dam, Butterfly Valley as well as Greenville.
For further information about joining or finding out more about the collaborative, contact the Dixie Fire Collaborative at [email protected].
Deadlines
Plumas County officials have extended the deadline to enroll in the Alternative Clean Up Program to Tuesday, Dec. 21, allowing residents more time to participate in a debris-removal program. Property owners must identify the contractor they are working with and submit an application to Debris Removal Center, 270 County Hospital Road Suite 127, Quincy, CA 95971 or via email at [email protected] by that date. The Right of Entry program deadline has passed and is no longer available.
Resource Center
The building housing the Rebuilding Greenville Resource Center (housed in the old Crescent Hotel in Crescent Mills) is temporarily closed to the public due to structural damage to the building.
Until further notice call (907) 242-4426 or knock on the window and manager Lara Wheeler or volunteers will “assist with emergency and immediate needs by retrieving resources in the Resource Center,” said Wheeler.
She asks that residents check their facebook page for updates on their move to Greenville Elementary School rooms 4 and 5 or check signage posted at the front of the Crescent Mills site. The Resource Center anticipates its move within the next two weeks.
Christmas Special Event
However, the Resource Center is hosting a special event this Saturday, Dec. 18, for a Children’s Christmas Gift Giveaway in the Home Goods Replacement Room (the front room).
“Kids can either pick out a toy or parents and grandparents coming in can pick out a toy and wrap it at our gift wrap station. Teenagers can sign up to go online with one of our volunteers and pick out a gift of their own choosing,” said Wheeler.
Christmas Dinner
Cravings in Chester is catering a Christmas Dinner for Dixie Fire survivors on Sunday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. at the Southern Baptist Church at 241 Wolf Creek Road in Greenville.
If you have a suggestion that would help residents of Indian Valley or an issue that you are confronting in the aftermath of the fire, please write to us and let us know at [email protected]. Please tell us about your events here as well.
This is also a great time to consider the infamous words of the late president John F. Kennedy, “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” Or maybe you’re more like Harry Potter in the dark forest suddenly realizing that no one is going to expecto patronum a patronus to save you. You have to cast the spell yourself. Either way, as the news cycle soldiers on to tornados in December in the Midwest and the county moves on to their regular business, it is up to us—the residents of Indian Valley to keep our needs addressed and met.
