News : River RATS review treasures, trash found in annual clean-up

River RATS collected boatloads of trash and a few treasures.

The boats are trailered, the canoes are dry, the buckets are stowed and the treasures from the clean up are in the landfill. The 6th Annual Cedar River Clean Up was as successful in finding trash as the 1st Annual Clean Up was in 2008.

This year, we heard many of the same things we heard in 2008, ‘‘you aren’t going to find anything out there’’ , ‘‘that river’s clean, there’s nothing there’’ , ‘‘the high water took everything out of here’’ (and we had some HIGH water in 2008!!)

If you watch the water flow on just the top of the river, you can see how quickly it passes through here, only to have every inch replaced every second by more water, water that’s never been here before and never will be again. The Cedar is constantly moving and bringing new things with her. And some of those things get caught on our sandbars and along our banks. What could have been a clear area last week may have ½ of a broken cooler trapped in it this week.

It’s been fun this week, to talk to people about what was found. It’s good to see how many people care and are interested and especially surprised. So, what are some of the things that were found this year? Let me break it down a little bit by category:

Most Interesting: An old, 100% rusted through -- SAFE.

Largest Item: An entire railroad tie, (which was leaving an oil slick behind it in the water.)

Prettiest Item: An old glass bottle with a thin/rounded neck

Ugliest Item: A bone. (don’t ask -- we don’t know!)

Most common: Tires (barrels were a close 2nd)

Most Dangerous: A can full of hypodermic needles (had the sheriff’s office take these)

Other stuff: broken glass, rusted cans, plastic of every kind, fencing, wooden dock pieces, garden hose, freezers, dorm-fridges, barbed wire, a stand up fan, broken pails, and lots more.

So you see, we never know what we will find, but we know we will always find something.

I cannot emphasize enough how the size and scope of this project would just not be possible if it weren’t for the willingness of our RATS to get dirty, and our Land Sharks to meet them for the off-loading and of course, the MEAL!! As I have said, repeatedly, your RATS committee works hard to put this together and have it flow as smoothly as possible. This is one very big collaborative effort, and the works of so many make it possible.

Aside from our sponsors and supporters, we had 15 Land Sharks and over 20 R.A.T.S. on the water. We hope to see even more in 2014!

For information on how you can help in 2014, contact any of Your 2013 R.A.T.S. committee: Tami Stark (319-558-7476), Dave Henkle (319-560-2139) and Bob Mahood (319-560-9071). We’ll see you on the water!