As they paddled Saturday morning through the waters of the Red Cedar River, Danielle Abshagen and Carolyn Schwedler were praised for the bounty they had collected.
Other volunteers yelled out compliments as the pair returned with a pile of bikes so heavy it nearly tipped their canoe.
"It's always the most fun finding the interesting stuff," said Abshagen, an environmental soil science senior. "Mo-peds, couches — that's the stuff that brings you back."
Volunteers took time away from their Earth Day weekend to help with the Red Cedar River Cleanup. The Fisheries and Wildlife Club hosts the event every fall and spring to help change the community's opinion of the river.
"The water is actually clean," said Chris Homeister, the club's president.
Several examples of wildlife thrive in the river — including salmon, catfish, smallmouth bass, turtles and muskrats — he said adding that "It's a very healthy system."
In a record turnout, 117 volunteers came to the Canoe Shelter at Bessey Hall ready to get dirty in search of the river's hidden treasures.
It's not uncommon to find a plethora of bikes in the river — this year participants found 28. But Saturday morning, many of the items pulled from the murky depths of the Red Cedar could only be classified as strange. Among the items found were three shopping carts, three couches, one refrigerator door, one window air conditioner, four tables and two trombones.
Equipped with 35 pairs of waders and 15 canoes, the volunteers managed to pull the haphazard mix of garbage from the river.
Schwedler, a fisheries and wildlife senior, said the majority of interesting items come from the section of the river near Cedar Village apartments.
"Drinking has a lot to do with it," she said.
Jessica Pociask, a park, recreation and tourism resources senior, was cleaning up trash along the banks of the river. After discovering a leak in her waders, she poured the invasive water onto the grass behind the Business College Complex.
Pociask said you could have great success without a canoe, and she could prove it. Less than an hour after the cleanup began, she had already found a barbecue grill, a bike and a pair of shorts.
"I've been trying to figure that out since day one," she said. "My guess would be some drunk escapade or a fraternity initiation."
After nearly three hours of scouring the river for garbage, volunteers began to make their way back to the Canoe Shelter to brag about their finds and share pizzas.
As the canoeists docked and hauled away heavy objects like the rusted bikes, walking volunteers returned with 65 bags of trash.
Tim Potter, manager of the MSU Bike Project, rents canoes to visitors during the warmer months. He said the work of the Fisheries and Wildlife Club does not go unnoticed.
"The river has improved a lot over time," he said.
