The Renew Our Rivers-Lake Mitchell clean up will be held Saturday.

The event, which will begin at 8 a.m., is co-hosted by the Lake Mitchell Home Owners and Boat Owners Association (HOBO) and Alabama Power.

“We started out doing it through HOBO,” said HOBO Board of Directors’ member Jim Woodrow. “When Alabama Power started the Renew Our Rivers campaign in 2000, we started [cleaning up] with Alabama Power.”

HOBO hosts two clean-ups a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Woodrow said while it is tough work, those involved try and keep the event lighthearted. After the clean up ends at noon, those involved gather back at the headquarters at Higgins Ferry Park and enjoy a hot dog lunch and fellowship.

“It’s a good time,” he said. “It’s a work day, but it’s a fun day too.”

The whistle-while-you-work attitude that prevails at the clean up might explain the large turnouts that the group sees each time.

“We usually have 50-100 people,” said Woodrow. “People who live on the lake usually bring their boats, and the power company brings their barges.”

While the amount of people that turn out for a trash pickup day might seem staggering, the amount of garbage picked up is even more so.

“[We pick up] one-to-two tons,” he said. “They fill a dump truck. It’s mostly hand trash and bags.”

Woodrow said the clean up groups usually only find litter that blows in from the roadways and shoreline, there have been more unusual things found.

“The oddest thing we ever pulled out was a rubber duck,” he said. “One like you’d find in a bath tub. We kept it as kind of a [souvenir]. You’d be surprised at the stuff they find.”

The clean up is open to everyone. For more information, contact Woodrow at 205-425-9431.