Volunteers removed trash from rivers, creeks, and bays in Lucas County on Saturday, part of an annual tradition that this year happened under a nonstop torrent of rain.

Along Arlington Boulevard, University of Toledo students ventured through the thick woods and weeds lining Swan Creek.

They came up with cans, lots of plastic, two baseballs, a child’s shoe, grocery store carts, a Detroit Lions helmet, a steak knife, and remnants of a large tarp.

That was just one cadre of hundreds of volunteers who signed up to take part in Saturday’s “20th Annual Clean Your Streams.” The effort focused on the Maumee River, Swan Creek, Ottawa River, and Maumee Bay.

PHOTO GALLERY: 20th annual Clean Your Streams effort

Last year 971 volunteers pulled 13,528 pounds of trash and debris from area waterways. This year 824 volunteers signed up, and the amount of trash was still being quantified.

“We went down by the river and cleaned up all the trash we could find,” said Kylie Kretz, 22, a civil engineering student.

The students used pincers and large plastic bags, and logged every item — down to a cigarette butt.

The students said they found evidence that someone is living under the bridge at Byrne Road and they left his camp undisturbed.

The volunteers could not walk along Swan Creek between Byrne and Detroit Avenue because the brush along the creek bed was too thick, students said. Instead, they trekked in, picked up what they could, and came back out.

Greg Mason, a health and safety specialist with the university’s Environmental Health and Safety Department, was with another small group of students working between the railroad bridge across from the University of Toledo Health Science Campus and Detroit Avenue.

One of the volunteers was Paul Fletcher, chairman of the Toledo State Hospital Cemetery Reclamation Project. He said some of the debris along Swan Creek in that area is from the old state hospital.

“We found a range a couple of years ago and matched it with a photo in the archives of one of the rooms,” Mr. Fletcher said.

Tim Niederkorn, with the university’s health and safety department, said the creek has appeared cleaner each of the years he’s been participating.

“The situation certainly has got better,” Mr. Niederkorn said.

Kris Patterson, executive director of Partners for Clean Streams, said the rain kept some volunteers at home and made it more difficult to pull some of the larger items out.

“The volunteers are willing to get in and get dirty, but it’s not safe with the water so high,” she said.

But many still did turn out despite the weather and then shared their experiences with their fellow volunteers at a picnic at the Lucas County Fairgrounds.

Ms. Patterson said they collected thousands of pounds of trash, including more than 200 tires, mattresses, and box springs. There’s less glass and more plastic than when the program started 20 years ago, she said.

She applauded the many groups, including Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, along with fraternity and sorority members who answered the call.

There were eight locations where volunteers checked in: Olander Park Open Air Shelter, University of Toledo Law School, Monroe Street United Methodist Church, International Park Gazebo, Oregon Municipal Building, Woodlands Park Shelter House, Johns Manville, and the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio.

Contact Tom Troy at: 

tomtroy@theblade.com, 

419-724-6058, and on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published September 18, 2016, 4:00 a.m.