BREAKING A SWEAT IN BORON : DWINDLING TOWN TRIES ATTRACTIONS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Every Saturday morning, volunteers set to work along Twenty Mule Team Road, sprucing up Boron's downtown and refurbishing buildings to give them a 1930s look.

The volunteers hope their work will ultimately pay off by improving the town's look and by giving travelers a reason to get off Highway 58 and visit their community.

In addition to the '30s motif, they plan to add exhibit areas for the aerospace industry and the town's major employer, U.S. Borax.

With cutbacks by major employers in the region, notably U.S. Borax and nearby Edwards Air Force Base, volunteers say there is a sense of urgency about their work. Boron's population has dropped from 5,000 residents a few years ago to about 3,000 today.

``I'll be blunt. We don't have two years,'' said F.O. Roe, president of Boron's Chamber of Commerce. ``Last January we had five of our older businesses close their doors. We can see the writing on the wall. We are working feverishly to get this thing done.''

Community leaders hope to place signs along the freeway to encourage motorists to stop by. Roe envisions shops selling antiques and collectibles to help capture new tourism dollars.

``We have a super big plan for such a little community,'' Roe said.

The volunteers are concentrating on a strip along Twenty Mule Team Road between James Street and Roberts Street. Using donated materials, they're painting, planting shrubs and erecting picket fences.

The volunteers want to finish as much of the work as possible by Oct. 5-6, when Boron holds its annual Twenty Mule Team Days celebration.

``I don't think I've ever seen such togetherness or enthusiasm in the community,'' said Roe, a resident of Boron since 1955.

The volunteers are also planning an aerospace exhibit area near the town's museum, which will feature artifacts from nearby Edwards Air Force Base. And they're trying to bring a couple of aircraft from a bone yard in Arizona to Boron for display, including an F-4 fighter and a T-33 trainer.

Also in the works is a park dedicated to workers of U.S. Borax, the borax mine that employs about 800 people. The company is providing one of its 150-ton trucks for display, said U.S. Borax spokesman Mark Ellis.

To further entice visitors to the community, U.S. Borax formed a committee to develop a proposal for a visitor center at the mine. No time frame is set yet for the project, Ellis said.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Volunteers plant roadside greenery tobeautify Boron - from left, Hijack Mora, Mel English, Otis Chapman, F.O. Roe and Mary Crain.

(2--color) Chamber President F.O. Roe inspects a building that will become a 1935 blacksmith shop. Weeding in back is Otis Chapman.

(3) Chamber of Commerce volunteers unload plants, tools and fertilizer for the Boron beautification project.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News