On Saturday March 28, 2015, volunteers of all ages picked up over a ton and half of trash from The American Dream City's Lake Arlington in less than four hours. The clean-up in conjunction with Keep America Beautiful' s Great American Cleanup was a resounding success. The event kicked off at 7:30 a.m. and finished at noon. Keep Arlington Beautiful Board members and department staff greeted volunteers at sign- in with light breakfast snacks and supplies. Following the event, volunteers were treated to a hotdog lunch provided by Exelon.

Keep Arlington Beautiful Board members, UT Arlington and Seguin High School students, TZI CHI Foundation, geocachers, and many more gathered for the litter abatement event. Those 100 + in attendance took a scenic boat ride across the lake to a small island which catches debris from the creek into the lake. The island was covered with by unbelievably thick sheet of litter including: old tires, plastic water bottles, cans, broken toys, fast-food containers, old carpet, car parts and other miscellaneous items polluting the land and waterway.

"The City of Arlington benefits significantly from the altruism of its citizens," Arlington Parks and Recreation Director Lemuel Randolph said. "This was recently exemplified by the over 100 volunteers that sacrificed their time and labor on a beautiful Saturday morning to help address litter build up within Lake Arlington. Without the efforts of like-minded citizens the cost for city services would be substantially higher."

Along with other volunteer remarks, geocaching enthusiast Winstonsmom said, "Wow! What a great turnout from geocachers, UTA students, High School Students and so many others! The weather could not have been any better with a bright blue sky with just a hint of wind and cool temps in the low 60s. Perfect! Everyone hauled in so much trash it was almost scary. A good friend said that he saw so many plastic water bottles that he is convinced they need to be banned! Thank you Arlington Parks for hosting this CITO so that we can "give back" and Keep Arlington Beautiful!"

For volunteer opportunities, pleas contact Samantha Crossnoe at 817-459-5477.