WKSU Stories

Cuyahoga River Will Have Its 30th Annual RiverSweep Tomorrow

Ideastream Public Media | By Kabir Bhatia

Published May 10, 2019 at 7:37 PM EDT

Canalway Partners Executive Director Tim Donovan says this year's artwork -- featuring a frog emerging from a once-burning river -- was selected to commemorate the Cuyahoga's rebirth since the 1969 fire.

The 30^th annual RiverSweep is happening Saturday morning in Cleveland, along the Cuyahoga River.

Volunteers are invited to help collect trash, old tires and other refuse that litters the river bank. They’ll also be painting over graffiti in the area.

Tim Donovan is executive director of Canalway Partners, which hosts the event. He says over the past three decades, about 19,000 volunteers have collected more than 600 tons of trash.

“In the beginning, we used to take out 2,000 illegally dumped tires out of the valley on an annual basis. Last year, I think we had 150. We have less trash, less recyclables -- everything is down -- so people are respecting the area more.”

Donovan adds that volunteers will get a free RiverSweep T-shirt, featuring art that commemorates the river’s rebirth since the 1969 fire.

A map of check-in sites – including the Flats and Slavic Village -- is available here.