By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The shoreline of the Ohio River is an unlikely place to find a wedding dress, a telephone booth or a stolen sports car.

But all of those things and more - about 70 million tons of trash over 15 years - have been collected during River Sweep, one of the largest cleanup events of its kind in the nation. About 22,000 volunteers removed debris from 3,000 miles of shoreline in 72 counties and six states last year.

River Sweep is usually held the third Saturday in June, but was rescheduled to July 12 this year because of high water.

The event started in 1989 as a pilot project in Cincinnati and has grown from there. Last year some 11,000 tons of debris were collected in an effort to boost water quality in the Ohio River and its tributaries.

"We've collected every kind of appliance you could think of," said Jeanne Ison, public information programs coordinator for the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. "One year we found a toilet in every county. I'm not sure of the significance, but it's true. We also found a note in a bottle, asking for a date."

It's unclear if the author got his date, but the bottle - like the rest of the trash collected - was disposed of properly.

Volunteers also find things that aren't trash. A check for $55,000, along with a 10-year-old class ring, were among items returned to their rightful owners after the sweep.

Alan Vicory, executive director and chief engineer for the commission, said River Sweep is important because people are less likely to dump trash in areas that are clean.

"For a lot of people, a river that looks dirty is dirty," Vicory said.

River Sweep contacts

Hamilton County (start at 8:30 a.m.), contact Orsanco: 231-7719

Clermont County (9 a.m.), contact John McManus: 732-2894

Boone County (8 a.m.), contact Mary Shinkle: (859) 334-3151

Kenton County (8:30 and 9 a.m.), contact Denny Bowman: (859) 292-2122

Campbell County (9 a.m.), contact Gary Hofstetter: (859) 802-9091

Dearborn County (9 to 11 a.m.), contact Jennifer Seitz: (812) 926-2406

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com