Saturday morning, Melissa Oberquell, her 12-year-old son Shandon and their friend Patricia Lucas walked down 5th Avenue in Havre, attired in yellow vests and Montana State University-Northern T-shirts. They stopped occasionally and picked up trash in the gutters, along the sidewalks or in front yards and tossed the garbage in a trash bag they were carrying.

The three were part of a delegation of about 30 people who took part in the cleanup of 5th Avenue that will take place twice a month for the rest of the summer. The avenue is the first part of the city many people see, and the volunteers want to make sure visitors get a good impression.

"My dad works at the college, so we are helping out," said Shandon Oberquell, a Havre Middle School student. He picked up trash along the way, "but it wasn't as much as I thought," he said.

"We started up near the softball fields and worked our way down to Main Street," he said.

Lucas said her boyfriend works at the college and convinced her to join in the effort.

The project was designed by Northern Chancellor James Limbaugh and his wife, Trish, along with the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Limbaughs want to see the college more active in the community, so they convinced students, faculty and staff to take part in the cleanup.