Editor's Note: Next Saturday marks the first Riverfest Recycle Regatta. It's the annual chief fund-raiser for the Portneuf Greenway Foundation. In anticipation of the event, the Journal is doing a week's worth of series examining the people behind the Portneuf Greenway Foundation and the projects the group has launched.

POCATELLO - When the Portneuf Greenway Foundation hosted Riverfest in past years, attorney Dave Maguire's office staff left their daily tasks to enter data for the annual Duck Race.

"The office essentially closed for two days. That was our contribution," he said. "There were dozens and dozens of others who did the same."

The Portneuf Greenway Foundation was born in 1991 when local residents decided they wanted to provide recreation along the Portneuf River and give people in the community a place to walk, run, and bike.

By 1992, the Foundation had a plan to build a trail system from Simplot's Don Plant west of Pocatello to the Portneuf Gap south of the city.

To date, the Foundation has built more than seven miles of trail and four parks. The board is governed by 13 newly-elected board members, all from different walks of life, and all volunteers.

"I like to call them a board of diverse talents," Greenway director Deb Stone said. "They all bring something unique."

Much of the Foundation money comes from residents and businesses who become members of the Greenway. Memberships range from $15 to $2,000, and the Foundation has 300 members.

Because the Foundation is funded solely by grants and donations, volunteers are essential, Stone said.

Volunteers clean walkways, build bridges and parks, and help raise money.

"There are no resources without them. We're so dependent on them," Stone said. "They just stick in there through the bitter end. It always amazes me."

Many of the volunteers come from the "Adopt a Reach" Program, where groups can adopt a piece of the Greenway. Adopting a Greenway reach requires two work parties each year and a $500 donation to be used for signs and other improvements.

Civic groups sometimes step up and donate more. Pocatello's three Rotary Clubs teamed up to build Taysom-Rotary Park, one of the entryways into the Greenway system.

Maguire, who is also president of the Centennial Rotary Club, said the Greenway is the group's main service project.

This year, the club will recover boats from the river at the first Recycle Regatta, an event where people purchase boat licenses and race plastic milk jugs down the river.

The event is Saturday.

The Centennial Rotary Club also helped construct the Mike Long Memorial in Taysom-Rotary Park in honor of Long, a former member of the club.

"Everybody is involved in the Greenway directly or indirectly at some point throughout the year," Maguire said.

The Greenway is important, Maguire said, because it gives residents a chance to meet each other.

"You get a wonderful sense of community," he said. "People actually get out of their cars and walk. People are beginning to feel like the city is interconnected."

Pocatello Rotary Club president Coke McClure said his club is helping raise money by selling boat licenses and fund raising. They also helped negotiate with the city to build Rotary-Taysom Park.

"It's just been a win-win situation for everybody," he said.

Emily Jones covers Bingham County, Fort Hall and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory for the Journal. She can be reached at 239-3175 or by e-mail at ejones@journalnet.com.