MEIGS COUNTY — The annual Ohio River Sweep will be held this weekend throughout Meigs County.

On Saturday, June 16, people all over the region will come together for River Sweep. Tons of trash will be taken from waterways and properly disposed. This year the Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), OSU Extension Office, and the Leading Creek Watershed Group are sponsoring three locations for Ohio River Sweep.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, at various locations.

Volunteers can meet at the amphitheatre stage in the river parking lot in Pomeroy; at Star Mill Park in Racine; and at the shelter house by the ball fields in Syracuse. Groups will leave each location at 9 a.m.

Gloves and trash bags will be provided to volunteers, who will also get free t-shirts and refreshments after the event ends, at noon.

This is a great event for families, scout groups, 4-H clubs, and all concerned citizens.

To pre-register please contact the Meigs SWCD at (740) 992-4282.

The Forked Run River Sweep will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 15. There will be free t-shirts, food and beverages for everyone who comes to help pick up trash. The first shelter house at Forked Run Park is where the gathering of participants will take place. For further information contact Todd Bissell at (740) 444-1388.

Since 1989, this award-winning cleanup for the Ohio River and its tributaries brings thousands of volunteers to the riverbanks to collect tons of trash and debris. River Sweep encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, Pa. to its end in Cairo, Ill., including 1,962 miles of shoreline and many tributaries.

Each year, more than 21,000 volunteers from public organizations, civic groups, recreational clubs, and the general public in six states bordering the river come together to collect more than 20,000 tons of trash and other debris from the banks of the Ohio River and tributaries.

To make this event a success, donors work with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, an interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley, along with environmental protection and natural resource agencies from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.