The spirit of Truckee is alive and well. Despite cloudy skies, drizzling rain, and lower than normal temperatures, hundreds of and#8220;Truckeeitesand#8221; hit the streets of Truckee for the 6th Annual Truckee Day clean up.

According to organizers, the turn out this year exceeded that of previous years. People not only picked up trash in the rain, but many of them participated in the community and#8220;block partyand#8221; at Regional Park afterwards. A little rain didnand#8217;t bother these brave souls.

I picked up trash on the south side of Donner Pass Road between the entrances to Sierra Mountain and Truckee High School. As I was filling my orange bag with trash, I decided to make a game of it. We will call this my first annual and#8220;state of the trashand#8221; observations.

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For 2009: Plastic grocery bags are 20 times more popular than paper grocery bags; water bottles were much more prevalent than soft drink cans, and there was only one beer can collected; there were more chewing tobacco containers than cigarette packs; Dairy Queen appears to be getting more business than McDonalds (7 wrappers to 5); and Port of Subs is a clear winner over Subway as a choice of our students for sub sandwiches. The greatest numbers of cigarette butts were in the proximity of the Trolley Stop so we will blame the bus riders, not the kids, for this trash.

The state of the and#8220;moatand#8221; between Donner Pass Road and the east/west practice fields was wet and a lot of water present. Believe it or not, there appears to be a beaver dam located about a third of the way between SMM and TNT. How did the beavers get there? Maybe the Truckee Trolley? Until next yearand#8230;

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Speaking of rain and#8230; Last Thursdayand#8217;s (very) early morning thunderstorm was pretty exciting, huh? I understand that this wild weather event was shared by people living in the Bay Area and at many other locations in Central and Northern California. Thank heaven there was plenty of rain to go along with the storms and no major fires were reported.

At about 7 a.m., I looked out my front window and saw one of the most spectacular rainbows I have ever seen. From my vantage point, the and#8220;pot of goldand#8221; must have been located in Bennett Flat Meadow. The rainbow was very broad and the colors were vivid.

It lasted for over 20 minutes. Hopefully many of you were also able to witness this gorgeous aftermath to this memorable thunderstorm.

Congratulations go to the graduating seniors of Truckee, North Tahoe, and Sierra High Schools. You should be very proud of your educational accomplishments and may we join with others in wishing you a very successful and bountiful future. We would also like to thank your teachers and other TTUSD employees for their commitment to your education.

Times are tough right now and the and#8220;state of the school districtand#8221; is not what everyone would like to see, but I do not believe that pointing fingers, threatening the recall of certain board members, and drawing lines in the sand accomplishes much of anything.

It is past time for all groups, regardless of their positions or motivations, to truly work together to make the TTUSD the best that it can be during these tough economic times.

Perf-ection is not attainable, but it is time that the needs of the kids (not the egos of the administrators, parents, and teachers) are the main focus here!

Lastly, thank you so much to the teachers and staff that have been laid off. None of this is your fault, and your community can never express enough praise for your commitment to their kids. Hopefully many of you will be rehired in the near future, or you will find a new career to express your talents and commitment to excellence. The very best to all of you!

Brew Fest this Saturday and#8230; The long-range weather forecast looks good for the Optimist Brew Fest this Saturday at Regional Park from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Come enjoy the tasting of many fine micro brews and the music of and#8220;Soland#8217;Jibe.and#8221; See you there!

Norm and Alan Nicholls of the Nicholls Real Estate Group are affiliated with Dickson Realty located at 11500 Donner Pass Rd.