"I'd like to do some more fly-fishing," said the soft-spoken Johnson.

Five years ago, Jefferson County jettisoned the Camp Sherman operation as being too costly. The $30,000 cost met the county's budget ax. A group of local Camp Sherman folks decided to run the operation themselves and Johnson led the charge by operating the facility for the community.

"Some folks said (a volunteer facility) wouldn't work. I said it would work," said Johnson.

And work it has. As of this month, the Camp Sherman transfer site has in excess of $52,000 on reserve with Jefferson County. Full time residents now pay $100 per year for "dumping" privileges and part-timers half that amount. Businesses are charged a higher rate.

The transfer station entrance is located in the Deschutes National Forest at the intersection of Roads 14 and 1419.

Local Camp Sherman residents, George Ingham, Jim Sternberg and Johnson built a small cabin at the transfer site to provide shelter for Johnson. A local resident donated a wood stove.

Johnson helped design and maintain recycling bins and created a program to separate glass, cardboard, milk containers, magazines and other materials at the site. He has also designed road improvements to make it easier and safer for local residents to bring materials to the transfer station.

"If you look up 'good neighbor' in your dictionary you'll find a picture of Vic Johnson there," said Dave Blann, chair of the Transfer Site committee. "Vic's work has reduced monthly costs by 50 percent. He makes sure that each dumpster is fully packed before High Desert Country Refuse takes it away. I have never seen anybody stack cardboard for recycling as meticulously as Vic.

"He works on holidays, Super Bowl Sunday and other times when most government agencies are closed."

The transfer station is open on Sunday and Wednesday from noon until 4 p.m.

Johnson and his wife Phyllis live in Metolius Meadows. He worked in the lumber industry in Lebanon before moving to Camp Sherman over 25 years ago.

"In what is considered an unglamorous job -- handling trash -- how many times do you see a person perform this service for his community," said Roger White, owner of the Camp Sherman Store.

"He's one of a kind," said Chan Cathcart. "Vic wants to serve the community. If a tree goes down and blocks a road or pathway, Vic is out there with his saw to remove it.

Johnson was the 1998 co-volunteer of the year award (with Jim Sternberg) for the Camp Sherman Community Association.