Thousands to clean Lake Allatoona on Saturday

It’s housekeeping time at Lake Allatoona.

On Saturday, thousands of volunteers will hit the beaches for the 23rd Annual Great Lake Allatoona Cleanup to clean 250 miles of Lake Allatoona’s shoreline in Cobb, Cherokee and Bartow counties.

To volunteer for the cleanup or to work on preparations for the celebratory picnic, register online at www.allatoonacleanup.org . You can also call the Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority at 678-801-4010 and leave a message, said general manager Ron Papaleoni.

Lake Acworth volunteers can register in advance or at Cauble Park on the lake at 8 a.m. Saturday, said Peter Jezerinac of the Acworth Parks and Recreation Department.

“We cover three counties, so we can find a place that’s convenient for everyone,” Papaleoni said of the Allatoona clean up.

He expects volunteers will collect 25 tons of trash. Other than the environmental benefit, there is a contest for the most unusual find.

In the 2007 cleanup, 3,800 volunteers collected more than 33 tons of trash. The lake has risen about six feet, so there is less shoreline to clean up this year, Papaleoni said. Clean up begins at 9 a.m.

Lake Allatoona is one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ most popular lakes in terms of visits and development.

The annual clean-up was launched in 1986. in part, to raise public awareness of the harm that litter and waste can do to the state’s natural resources.