About 200 volunteers in 100 pontoon boats, led by Co-Commanders Jack Lewis and Zeus Stevens, will cover the 300+ miles of Lake Keowee shoreline between April 18th and 26th picking up trash that has accumulated since the fall of 2008. You will be able to recognize them by the orange vests they will be wearing – as shown in the accompanying photo. This is one of the two annual lake sweeps that have been done since 1994 – the second year of FOLKS existence. Among the organizations that assist are: The Keowee Anglers; The Reserve at Lake Keowee HOA and The Cliffs Communities.

Over the years tons of debris has been removed from the shoreline. The materials picked up and removed include:
Plastic and glass bottles, tires, large pieces of unincapsulated foam floatation, food containers, derelict boats and docks, boat seat cushions, tractor tires, rugs 55 gallon drums, folding chairs, car batteries, and no kitchen sinks but a kitchen cabinet!

The larger items are logged in by the volunteers and the locations are supplied to Duke Energy. They contract with a barge company to pick them up. The overall amount of debris taken during a sweep has dropped off with the increased development of the shoreline, i.e. people are not apt to picnic on the sand in front of someone’s home and leave their trash… There doesn’t appear to be any end to the large pieces of white dock foam – some as large as mattresses!