Lake Wylie needs a pick-me-up. They say 1,000 or so people should do.

After three years, one of Lake Wylie’s biggest gatherings is falling back into place.

Riversweep will be held Saturday. Volunteers will meet up at 15 locations spanning all three counties surrounding Lake Wylie, gathering bits of trash and large junk in the annual clean-up event.

“Cleaning trash and debris from the lake goes a long way to preserve the lake and its beauty in the same way that organizations volunteer to clean up sections of highways,” said Lake Wylie Marine Commissioner Neil Brennan, co-chair with fellow Commissioner Ellen Goff. “Our ‘highway’ is accessible only by boat.”

Holding Riversweep the first Saturday in October isn’t new to many in Lake Wylie. Yet it hasn’t happened in a while. In 2015, severe drought lowered the lake level and shut down boat ramps. A last-minute decision was made to postpone Riversweep. Volunteers scheduled it for the spring, anticipating more participation among boat captains with the date just ahead of Memorial Day and the coming boating season.

The spring date brought only about a quarter of the participation Riversweep typically gets. A rainy Saturday didn’t help, but other issues included a NASCAR race in Charlotte and local proms or graduations the same weekend.

By holding the event in October again, for the first time since 2014, organizers are hopeful the volunteers will return.

“Riversweep today is more than a service to the community,” Goff said. “It’s the connection between the public and the environment, and a demonstration of stewardship toward our public waterway.”

So far, signs are promising. Kevin Loftin Riverfront Park, which took over as a site in Belmont, N.C., for Dale’s Landing, is staying on to host volunteers. A new site at the Vinyards on Lake Wylie, along Paw Creek, makes 15 total locations. Prizes for pre-registered volunteers and boat captains came in, including tickets to Charlotte Checkers and Charlotte Knights games. Organizers have 750 shirts printed up for volunteers, with hopes of even more people participating.

Past fall dates have seen 1,000 or more volunteers.

“Riversweep will be held on the first Saturday in October, this year and in the future,” Goff said.

Early in its history, Riversweep started and ended at Buster Boyd Access Area. The largest public access and a fairly central location for volunteers. In recent years organizers started asking volunteers to pick a site close to them. They want people to see how important the clean-up is, in the areas most important to them.

“The local economy benefits from a clean lake environment, and there’s a safety element as well,” Brennan said, “as some of the debris we retrieve is or can become hazardous to navigation.”

Goff said as she thinks back on so many Riversweeps now, she sees considerable changes in the area and an impact those changes have had on the lake.

“Our lake communities have experienced many changes, chief among them are unprecedented growth and land development,” she said. “The threats to the lake’s water quality and shoreline environment have also increased, far beyond trash, junk and debris.”

With so many issues impacting the lake, Riversweep volunteers want to give residents any opportunity they can to help.

“Public awareness has risen on the impact of stormwater and construction to lake health,” Goff said. “Today, people want a hands-on role in taking trash out of the lake. They want to make a difference and they want to learn how to protect the lake from sediment runoff and prevent coves from filling in.”

Online registration for Riversweep, including volunteer and boat captain roles, ended Monday. But guests still can show up at sites, but may not be eligible for certain prize drawings. Riversweep itself runs 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Volunteer sites include Allison Creek, Buster Boyd and Nivens Creek access areas along with Ebenezer Park, River Hills Marina, Tega Cay Marina in York County. North Carolina sites are Harbortowne, Long Cove, Riverside and Tailrace marinas, Catawba Yacht and Gaston Wildlife clubs, Loftin Park Boat Landing, Paw Creek at the Vineyards and the Seven Oaks bridge.

For more, visit lakewylieriversweep.com.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie needs a pick-me-up. They say 1,000 or so people should do.."