Thanks to the work of thousands of volunteers over the last quarter-century the Ottawa River is now in much better condition.
Everything we do impacts the river and for many decades the Ottawa River was mistreated and used as a dumping ground. In 1993, a group of volunteers decided to change that. Then Lima parks director Barb Stelzer and Connie Miller with the Lima Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership organized the first River Cleanup Day. Â By 1997, the Cleanup covered a ten-mile stretch collecting around 20 tons of trash. Everything from shopping carts to tires to mattresses. As the years pass more and more volunteers come out to take pride in this important natural resource.
The 25th annual Ottawa River Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, April 28th starting with registration at 8:30 a.m. at the Red Cross chapter house on Collett Street. Last year, 474 volunteers came out and this year they would like to break the 500 volunteer count.
