News : River R.A.T.S. find piles of junk, a handful of treasures

The River RATS (Running Around Tidying up Streams) volunteers pose for a photo.

Tami Stark speaks to the volunteers before the clean-up begins.

Bob Mahood and Marcia Hite arrive at the Cedar River bank with a load of junk Saturday.

Treasure or trash? A River RATS volunteer tries to clean out what appeared to be a syrup bottle.

Tami Stark said she was surprised, that first August Saturday in 2008, to find out just how much junk was scattered along the Cedar River bed. The River RATS spent a day removing tanks, tires, and other items, even an intact picnic table (mostly likely washed from its original location during that year's flood).

The participants that day did find a few items worth cleaning and keeping, sent much to a recycling center, and also created a pile to send to the landfill.

The same thing has happened each year that the RATS have traveled the Cedar River, some place between the Mount Auburn boat ramp and Wildcat Park between Shellsburg and Urbana.

On Saturday, volunteers began at the Mount Auburn location and traveled by canoe, kayak or motorboat to the Vinton boat dock. They stopped along the way at the Patten river access for lunch and unloading.

Again they found a few treasures, and a lot of junk.

Look for a more detailed from organizer Tami Stark soon.