Ijams River Rescue cleans shoreline for 28th year, hundreds help

The 28th annual Ijams River Rescue was held last Saturday.

Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who met at over 30 public sites along the river and tributary streams to make our East Tennessee home more beautiful. Folks came in boats, canoes and trucks. They brought wheelbarrows, rakes and a steely-eyed resolve to "do the right thing."

We tip our hats to presenting sponsors Keurig Green Mountain and TVA.

And thank you to all of our other sponsors—City of Knoxville, First Tennessee Foundation, Grayson Subaru, Dow Chemical Company, Mesa Associates Inc., Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, River Sports Outfitters, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Wood Realtors, Knoxville Area Climbers, AmeriCorps and the Water Quality Forum—without whom this yearly cleanup would not be possible.

AND we are making a difference! In the mid-1990s Ijams' River Rescue volunteers were finding large items like chairs, old TVs and tires. With each passing year the amount of tonnage collected gets smaller and smaller.

All who volunteered got a free Ijams River Rescue t-shirt. Pat yourself on the back! You all earned it and you look soooo good in chartreuse.

One person can make a difference. Hundreds of people make a movement. Scruffy little city? Pishy-caca!

If one photo is worth a thousand words, here's over 25,000 words.

- Stephen Lyn Bales

- Supplied photos by Kristy Keel-Blackmon, Cindy Hassil and moi.