Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Allegheny Reservoir Pre-Clean-up volunteers (from left) Denny McClellan, Dan Hoden, David Snyder, Grace Tillotson, and Dave Wargo take on a reclining sofa and love seat set left along the shore of the reservoir.

The 14th annual Allegheny Reservoir Clean-up will be held Saturday, May 12.

In order to know exactly where the target areas will be, a group of volunteers went out on the annual pre-clean-up clean-up on Friday.

“We’re trying to figure out the best way to utilize our resources,” volunteer David Snyder said. “Those resources being a multitude of enthusiastic volunteers we expect to join us on Saturday, May 12.

The pre-clean-up volunteers — Snyder, Denny McClellan, Dan Hoden, Dave Wargo, Grace Tillotson, and Nate Welker — scouted the shoreline, looking for large items or problematic areas.

Where they could, they picked up.

The first significant stop of the day came not far down the southern shore of Kinzua Bay. Spotters caught something out of place. It turned out to be a reclining sofa and loveseat combination.

The volunteers eventually found a large suitcase and two blankets, one with dolphins on it, a toilet seat, an out of position picnic table, and a 15-foot section of rusted 24-inch corrugated metal pipe.

When there was too much for a crew of six, the volunteers noted the location and went on. The crew hoped to scout the lower part of the reservoir then cross the border and do some work in the Onoville, N.Y., area.

According to Snyder, the southern areas of the reservoir are now much better than when the event started.

“It never ceases to amaze us how apparent the difference is,” he said. “The Pennsylvania side looks immensely better.”

Cleaning up the downstream portion of the reservoir helps, but only so much.

“Eight years ago, it didn’t look as bad here as the New York side does,” Snyder said. “We’re focusing our efforts north.”

“It looks better every year, but there’s a lot of work left to be done,” he said.

Information about participating in the clean-up is available under the clean-ups tab at www.alleghenyrivercleanup.com.