California state parks group honors Modesto men

The California Parks & Recreation Society has honored two Modestans for leading a nearly two-year volunteer effort to clean up Tuolumne River Regional Park, removing nearly 1,000 abandoned tires and shopping carts as well as 206 tons of trash from in and along the river.

CPRS Executive Director Stephanie Stephens presented Chris Guptill and Darin Jesberg with her organization’s 2015 Champion of the Community service award of excellence Wednesday in Manteca. The society is the only statewide group that represents parks and recreation agencies throughout California.

CPRS hands out awards in nine categories at its annual conference, this year’s is next month in Long Beach. City spokeswoman Amy Vickery said Modesto did not have the money to send anyone, so Guptill and Jesberg were honored in Manteca at a CPRS district meeting.

“It’s one thing to volunteer once or even twice a year,” said Modesto Park Operations Supervisor Chris Orr – who nominated the men – in an email. “But these guys are continuously out there making a difference. I admire their passion for what they do. ... Our community is fortunate to have them.”

Guptill and Jesberg said the awards recognize the volunteers who have made the cleanups a success. They also thanked Capt. Phil McKay with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Ed Aguilar with the Tuolumne River Trust for their help.

“It’s really an honor for all of the people who have come out and volunteered,” Guptill said in an interview. “We coordinate and organize this, but it’s really about the community coming out. It’s nice to see that a lot of people care.”

Guptill, a Davis High teacher, started Operation 9-2-99 in 2014 with help from Jesberg. The name refers to the stretch of the Tuolumne River from Ninth Street to Highway 99. Guptill is an avid kayaker and was shocked by the deplorable condition of the river, with trash and debris along the banks and in the water.

Guptill met Jesberg through the Dry Creek Trails Coalition, a volunteer cleanup effort Jesberg started in 2011.

Operation 9-2-99 has held 19 monthly cleanups from June 2014 through this January, with more than 1,200 volunteers participating. The goal is to clean the river and its banks from the Mitchell Street Bridge to the Carpenter Road Bridge, a distance of roughly seven miles.

A lot of the trash and debris comes from homeless encampments. Guptill said the volunteers treat the homeless and their possessions with respect. He said many of the homeless have moved up- and downriver from the cleanups. Guptill and Jesberg said more people are kayaking, biking and riding horses in the regional park as a result of Operation 9-2-99.

“The big push now is we are doing maintenance cleanups and promoting recreational use along Dry Creek and the Tuolumne River Regional Park,” Jesberg said.

To learn more – including how to volunteer – visit http://tinyurl.com/operation9-2-99.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "California state parks group honors Modesto men."