Volunteers in a canoe transport a heavy equipment tire recovered last year on the Camp Jordan Canoe Trail, which is part of West Chickamauga Creek. That again will be part of this year's Tennessee River Rescue on Saturday.Volunteers again will be combing the banks of the Tennessee River and its tributaries Saturday in the annual Tennessee River Rescue.
Marking 26 years this event has taken place, hundreds of people will be wearing gloves and carrying trash bags as they walk, canoe or use motorboats in patrolling the waterways looking for trash.
Fifteen zones covering the counties of Bradley, Hamilton, Marion and Rhea have been established where volunteers will walk the banks. An additional three zones have been set aside for canoes, and six have been established for motorcraft patrols in the four counties.
Those helping with the rescue will start at 9 a.m. and be off the waterways by 1 p.m.
Tennessee Aquarium horticulturist Christine Bock, a co-coordinator of the event, said gloves and trash bags will be provided but recommended that volunteers wear long pants and sturdy shoes and bring sunscreen, bug spray and water.
"You are walking along the river's edge, so appropriate footwear is a good thing," she said.
She said last year's rescue had about 900 volunteers and organizers are "prepared for 900 to 1,000" Saturday. High school students can get community credit hours for helping, Bock noted.
"It is amazing. They are so many volunteers in so many different places," she marveled. "There are a lot of different places for people to work and clean up."
The 2013 cleanup filled 22 dumpsters with trash. Funding for the dumpsters is provided by local business.
While volunteers are not in short supply, transportation to some of the more difficult areas is.
"We can use boats because the shoreline is hard to get to in some places. We always need boats," Bock said.
Prizes are awarded for best pieces of trash.
Jim Ledbetter, zone captain for the Camp Jordan Canoe Trail in East Ridge, is hoping to get more than just trash picked up on his group's section of West Chickamauga Creek.
"We are in need of capable operators that could bring handsaws [for trees and limbs], z-drags, chainsaws, ropes, come-alongs, et cetera, to help make the trail more novice friendly," Ledbetter said.
He said plenty of canoes will be on hand for the volunteers to use.
Another group of volunteers literally will be lowering themselves to find trash.
Judy Yancy, the dive zone captain for the swimming area near Chickamauga Dam, said she expects about 20 scuba divers to crawl along the bottom in trying to locate bottles and cans discarded by boaters. And she expects them to make a haul.
"I don't think they have done it up there for several years, so it ought to be pretty dirty. You never know what you might find," she said.
That was echoed by Nancy Brice, the other co-coordinator of the river rescue.
"We find a lot of dentures, believe it or not. I guess they lose their teeth when they are fishing. I really don't have an idea as to why. Maybe they get mad and throw them out," Brice said.
"We find tons of styrofoam, and that is mostly from boat docks," she added, acknowledging that many cell phones also make their way to the lake bottom at the recreation area.
In addition to the likely accidental losses, many objects apparently are intentionally dumped in the water -- tires, for example, and discarded household items such as microwave ovens, old chairs and other "junk," as Brice called it.
"They are too lazy to haul it to the dump," she said.
She said 257 tires were recovered from the waterways in the four counties last year and the total seems to be in the 200s each year. The problem involves people trying to avoid the fee for tire disposal.
Brice and Bock said the annual cleanup work is making a difference overall, however.
"I think it is getting cleaner. It is also raising awareness," Bock said.
To volunteer and find a work zone, visit tennesseeriverrescue.org.
Contact Gary Petty at sports@timesfreepress.com.