Blue skies and cold temperatures greeted more than 135 volunteers who came out to participate in the 2013 Rivers Alive on Lake Oconee on Saturday, Oct. 26. The event was part of the statewide annual Rivers Alive cleanup of streams, rivers and lakes in Georgia. The organizer and sponsor of the Rivers Alive on Lake Oconee is the Lake Oconee Water Watch (LOWW).

In 2012, the program set records for the number of events (315) and number of volunteers (more than 29,000) and over the past 10 years the Rivers Alive program has seen more than 324k volunteers and more than 3.4k miles of Georgia waterways have been cleaned. Since the program began in 1999 those volunteers have collected more than 8 millions pounds of trash.

Each year during the cleanup, the volunteers pick up some very unusual items around Lake Oconee. This year’s unusual items included a dead buck deer minus its head. Apparently the deer had been hit by a car and someone came along and removed the head and antlers from the large buck. Those deer antlers will likely be placed on someone’s wall along with a great untrue story about how the deer was legally harvested from the woods.

Other items included a hood from an old automobile, wood pallets, metal door, steel drums, tires, boards, an old metal sign from Harmony Farms, pair blue jeans, a grill and the usual discarded trash items like cans, bottles, bait cups and fishing line.

Walking volunteers cleaned up areas around four bridges and shorelines on Highway 44; the Sugar Creek boat ramp, bridge and shoreline; Lick Creek bridge and shoreline;  Long Shoals boat ramp and shoreline; bank fishing area near Putnam/Greene bridge on Highway 44; Armor Bridge boat ramp and shoreline; and the Long Shoals boat ramp and shoreline. Volunteers also went out in boats to clean up some of the lake islands, coves and shorelines.

Volunteers worked for about 3 hours cleaning up those sites around Lake Oconee. All the cleanup volunteers received goody bags, a Rivers Alive T-shirt and a great lunch provided by Georgia Power. A silent auction for cleanup participants took place and that auction included several nice items that were donated by various organizations for the cleanup event.

Groups participating in the cleanup included Lake Oconee Water Watch (the organization sponsoring the cleanup); Georgia Power Company and its employees; Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam County; residents of the Del Webb community; Redeemer After School Program from The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer; residents of the Sugar Creek community; residents of the Double Branches community; members of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro; students and adults from Lake Oconee Academy; students and adults from the Anchor Club at Gatewood Academy; residents from the Long Shoals community; employees from the Ritz-Carlton Lodge; members of the Lake Oconee Anglers; a student from GC&SU and other individuals.

It was great to see so many young people participating in the cleanup this year. Twenty students from the Lake Oconee Academy and eighteen students from Gatewood Academy participated in this year’s cleanup. “This was a wonderfully organized event and I enjoyed participating this year in the cleanup,” said Bobby Hatfield, an eighth grade student at Lake Oconee Academy.

“We were transported by boat and cleaned up areas around lake islands and shorelines and we had a great time doing so,” said Gatewood Academy seniors and Anchor Club members Lindsey Green, Scott Schneider and Katlyn Duffey. “If you are tempted to litter, just don’t do it,” added Schneider. 

Georgia Power provided cleanup supplies, organizational support, use of the facilities at Old Salem Park, and Georgia Power employees volunteered their time by participating in the cleanup. Georgia Power employees also cooked a great lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers for all the volunteers.

“I would like to thank all those individuals who participated, those companies and organizations that provided organizational support, financial support, items for the silent auction and items for goody bags given to all volunteers,” said Janet Pearson, LOWW. Pearson heads the cleanup effort and she should be congratulated along with other members of LOWW for their untiring efforts each year to make this event the great success that it has become.

Remember to always take a trash bag along on outings to the lake. Don’t be tempted to dump your trash into and around the lake. Keep Lake Oconee and all our Georgia lakes, rivers, streams and roadways clean and beautiful for all to enjoy. See you next week.