The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance is sponsoring a volunteer “Creek Cleanup” along Holley Creek from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

This event is part of the Great American Cleanup, a grassroots beautification, litter prevention and community improvement program led nationally by Keep America Beautiful Inc. and locally by Keep Greene Beautiful.

"This is the second year that the Alliance has sponsored this event, and we are very excited about the opportunity to do something for the community," said Tim Armstrong, the group’s chairman.

The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance is a non-profit group of organizations and individuals interested in maintaining and improving water quality in the Nolichucky River and the area draining into it in Greene County, called a “watershed.”

Registration At 8:30

Volunteers are asked to register at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Big Lots on U.S. Highway 11E. Anyone under the age of 18 will be required to have a parent or guardian complete a release form.

Volunteers then will receive trash bags and gloves provided by TVA and be told of their cleanup locations.

A safety orientation will be held at 9 a.m.

The size of the cleanup area will be determined by the number of volunteers participating. The group hopes to clean along the creek bank from Snapps Ferry Road to Tusculum Boulevard, and a larger area that drains into the creek if enough volunteers are available.

Last year about 100 volunteers participated in a similar effort.
After the cleanup, volunteers will be asked to report back to the tent for lunch, which will be provided at noon by McDonald's and Coca-Cola. At this time, volunteers will report the number of bags of litter they collected and any large items that need to be removed at a later date.

Once the volunteers have reported on the cleanup, they will be eligible for prizes to be given away during lunch.

Awards also will be given to the group with the largest number of bags of litter collected, the group with the largest number of volunteers, and the group that finds the most unusual item during the cleanup.

In addition to the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, this event is being sponsored by TVA, Keep Greene Beautiful, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Big Lots, JC Penney's Proffitt's, Kmart, East Tennessee State University, Amoco/BP/Quick Lube, and Goody’s.

For more information, please call Candy Adams, director of Keep Greene Beautiful, at the Greene County Partnership, 638-4111.