Around 125 volunteers gathered at War Hill Park on Saturday, Sept. 15 to help clean Lake Lanier at the 30th annual Shore Sweep event.War Hill Park is one of 11 locations where volunteers went to pull trash from the lake and its shores. Each year, thousands of pounds of trash are collected and taken to local landfills by over 1,000 volunteers. “The event started 30 years ago and at that point consisted of mostly homeowners on the lake who wanted to come together and help keep their community clean,” said Wilton Rooks, President of Lake Lanier Association. “Now it has grown to include homeowners, marina employees, those who enjoy boating and other organizations and individuals in or near Hall County.” Though Shore Sweep is held one Saturday in September, the initiative runs for two to three weeks before the main event. “We always have several advance drop-off locations around the lake, so if someone wants to help out and they aren’t available on the event day, they are more than welcome to collect trash and drop it off whenever they please,” Rooks said. Rooks explained that over the years that the event has been held, more than 1,000 tons of trash has been collected from 700 miles of shoreline.