37th annual Shore Sweep brings out volunteers and tons of trash
Volunteers sifting through shoreline debris.

Volunteers pick through driftwood and debris.

On Saturday, September 20, the shores of Lake Lanier bustled with hundreds of volunteers with one purpose in mind: Clean up Lake Lanier. The annual event – Shore Sweep – didn’t disappoint in the strong community support for this 37th annual lake cleanup hosted by the Lake Lanier Association.

“This year we added more mobile/advance sites for on-lake support, including partnerships with many of the dock builders around the lake,” said Victoria Clevenger, executive director of the not-for-profit organization based in Gainesville. “And we were very pleased with the large turnout of volunteers for the day-of event and the few days afterward that allowed us to get the remains of trash, garbage and debris collected.”

Boat Dock Works, Brown Bridge Dock Co., Lighthouse Marine Solutions, Marine Specialties, Inc., Martin Docks, and Southeastern Dock Supply  provided barges and work boats placed around the lake to help people towing dock floats and larger items.

Shore Sweep is the signature project of the Lake Lanier Association. For more information, visit lakelanier.org.

Volunteers in a boat reach into water to pull out large chunks of Styrofoam from the lake.

Two volunteers lift lumber into roll-off cart."on-Lake" Support group photo with sign.Boat Dock Works barge hauling collected trash out of Lake Lanier.A tractor on a boat ramp and barge in the water both dump trash collected in Lake Lanier into roll off cart.Two volunteers use their kayaks to haul bagged trash to the shore.Photos: provided by LLA