Odd Items Found During Wissahickon Creek Cleanup [Photos]

Each year, hundreds of volunteers join forces with the and the Friends of Wissahickon to clean a 35-mile stretch of the Wissahickon Creek. In most cases the volunteers find ordinary trash, but in recent years, an unofficial competition to find odd items has led to some remarkable discoveries.

"Over the years we've found things as crazy as riding mowers," said Mary Claghorn, Chairman of the WVWA. "One time we even found a refrigerator."

This year was no different, as volunteers uncovered everything from half of a bowling ball, to a large John McCain campaign sign from his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2008. Additional items included parts of a toilet, computer equipment and the obligatory shopping cart.

"Some areas of the creek are really remote," said Claghorn. "Since they're heavily wooded, people go back there to dump some strange things."

One group of volunteers even found a series of sleeping bags and tents strewn about the trees lining the creek bed, which they assume was the remnants of an encampment which was washed away during the flooding caused by Hurricane Irene.

While the odd discoveries make for good stories, the heart of the effort focuses on preserving the creek and encouraging people to dispose of their trash in a proper manner.

Claghorn said that they WVWA has been coordinating the yearly cleanup effort for the last 43 years, though they've partnered up with the Friends of Wissahickon for the past five years. Both offices only combine for a total staff of 13 to 15 people, so they rely heavily on volunteers.

"There's no way we could do this with our small staffs, so on a day like today, we get around 300 volunteers and we clean the whole stretch," said Claghorn.

On the last Saturday of every April, .  Each group is responsible for a portion of the creek, which stretches from Lansdale and ends at the Schuylkill River.

For the deeper parts of the creek, volunteers can use canoes to navigate through the water, though a handful of others prefer to don wetsuits and submerge themselves. The rest of the volunteers simply walk the water and pick up every piece of trash that they see.

"They literally pick up the trash, put it into the bags, and then take it outside of the creek," said Claghorn. "We pile it in certain locations, and the townships come by and pick it up."

The cleanup lasts roughly three hours, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending roughly around 11 a.m. Afterwards, the group retires for a picnic at the Fort Washington State Park, where they can listen to live music, eat a few hot dogs and swap stories.

"It's a wonderful thing for the volunteers, the creek and the environment," said Claghorn.