About 250 turn out for annual Laurel Lake Cleanup

About 250 volunteer descended on Laurel Lake this past Saturday – but it wasn’t to swim or fish or enjoy a leisurely day on the houseboat.

Instead, they set out in teams to scour the lake and surrounding wilderness for trash in an effort to preserve the scenic beauty of one of the area’s most valuable natural treasures.

"I think what we are doing is starting to make a big difference," said Amy Allen, Outdoor Events Coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service. Allen is based in the London District Ranger’s Station.

"Of course, actually going out and picking up the trash has helped. But I think more than that, it’s the education part of this. People are seeing what it does and they start to think twice now about just throwing stuff on the ground or in the lake."

Cool, wet weather may have kept some volunteers away from the popular annual event. This year marks the 11th year for the cleanup. It has become a main event in a series of spring cleanups sponsored by Eastern Kentucky PRIDE – a non-profit, federally funded initiative dedicated to fighting pollution and litter in the 5th Congressional District.

Volunteers were treated to door prizes and free food for their efforts.

Prizes were also given for teams that located the most unusual piece of rubbish. It is a common sight for volunteers to drag in tires and car parts, old grills, bicycles and other metals along with hundreds of bags holding thousands of lbs. of trash.

A competition is held between Laurel and Whitley Counties to see who can coax the most volunteers to turn out for the effort. For the past decade, Laurel County has taken the prize. This year was no exception.

The first trash teams returned to the Laurel Lake Spillway, which served as the staging area for the cleanup. Boats unloaded bags of trash and other items about 11:00 a.m. The cleanup officially started a few hours before. Allen said some teams were anxious to get back because of the weather.