RUTLAND — The 10th annual Leading Creek Stream Sweep will be held 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 17, at the Jim Vennari Park in Rutland.

Sponsored each year by the Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District, the first stream sweep was held in 2001 at the Rutland Firemen’s Park. But after a few years it was moved to the Jim Vennari Park where it is held roughly to coincide with the annual Earth Day observance.

Coming to participate in the Stream Sweep has varied over the years ranging from a few dozen to over 100 in 2008.

The purpose of the Leading Creek Stream Sweep is to clean and beautify the streams in the Leading Creek watershed and to keep trash and other refuse from getting into the streams, according to Meigs SWCD Leading Creek Watershed Coordinator Raina Fulks.

Groups and individuals are invited to participate in the event, which is held rain or shine.

Generally volunteers disperse from the park and return with their haul later in the morning, Fulks explained. Clean-up sites include areas along the streams in the Leading Creek watershed, and other problem trash areas near streams and roads.

New this year will be an Electronics Waste Collection point for all electronic items with the exceptions of televisions. The collection point is sponsored through a litter cleanup grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention. Area residents can bring electronic items they wish to dispose to Jim Vennari Park the morning of the Stream Sweep for collection. In addition, there will also be a collection point for safe disposal of fluorescent light bulbs.

No television sets will be accepted.

Community groups and individuals who wish to participate in the event can contact the Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District at 992-4282. The first 150 registered participants will receive a Leading Creek Stream Sweep T-shirt and lunch will be served afterwards.

This is a great way for groups and people to get involved in their community and to make it a more place to live in, Fulks commented.

The event is sponsored by the Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District, Rutland Township Board of Trustees and the Meigs County Transfer Station.