Tires, shoes, cardboard boxes, sofas, television sets and household appliances lined a mile-long stretch of road on 26 1-4 Avenue Saturday. But what sounds like Kings County's largest yard sale was actually the end result of more than 700 people banning together to help make the Kings River shine once again.

"I know people who have walked through the river before and cut their feet on broken bottles," said Melissa McCary, 17. "It's a really big bummer. I think this is going to have a huge impact this year, though. The river is going to look a lot cleaner."

People from all over Kings County gathered together at Hickey Park on Saturday morning to plan a cleaning operation that would span more than nine miles of the Kings River.

"It's ridiculous how much stuff you find out here," said 26-year-old Brenda Buffington, who was working alongside her husband to pull a large couch out of the riverbed. "There's dead animals, tires, children's toys, Styrofoam, housing material, PVC pipes...It's just awful."

Backhoes and tractors drove back and fourth along 26 1-4 Avenue, just north of Elgin Avenue, loading tons of garbage into large city dump trucks, which endlessly ferried the waste away from the river.

Pepper Ramsey, a 34-year-old former Arizona resident, said she couldn't believe how much trash was pulled out of the river.

"I helped out with river cleanups in Arizona since I was a little girl, but I couldn't imagine we would find this much trash here," Ramsey said. "I just don't understand it. These people probably waste more money on gas to drive out here and find a spot where no one will see you to dump your trash, when they could just pay $16 at the dump."

The river was divided into six different zones, each requiring a different number of volunteers to help clean up the mess.

"My teenager is out here helping when he could be at the skateboard park right now," Ramsey said. "He's out here busting his butt and I'm so proud of him. When you're a teen, the last thing you want to be doing on a Saturday is picking up other people's trash."

Lori Luna and her 11-year-old son, Ethan Hensley, were out cleaning up alongside several Lemoore High School clubs.

"It's just a natural instinct for kids to want to help," Luna said. " When we were over there pulling out trash, I was having discussions with the kids about the environment, and how even if some people make a negative impact, we can always make a positive one."

When asked why she brought her son along, Luna said she was "setting him up with some community service, so he can learn to be a good citizen."

Chief Deputy Coroner Tom Edmonds with the Kings County Sheriff's Office drove between the designated cleaning zones handing out bottled water to the workers.

"It was unbelievable," Edmonds said. "When these guys got there, the area looked like a dumping ground. Now, when you see it, it looks like a place you might actually want to go fishing."

Jason McCary, 14, said he found an entire set of clothes abandoned in the river, from shoes and socks to hats and sunglasses.

"I don't think we found any underwear, though," McCary said.

Unmarked blue barrels filled with a strange substance were found in more than one location. Sheriff's deputies said the barrels may contain chemicals used in meth labs that were abandoned in the river.

"This is where our children have to live and where we have to live," Buffington said. "It shouldn't look like this. There are trash cans and recycle bins for a reason."

Event organizer Rick Krick said more than 80 tons of garbage were hauled away by 2 p.m.

(March 15, 2009)