Weekend Cleanup Spruces up Minnehaha Creek

More than 600 volunteers from throughout the metro area pitched in over the weekend to pick up trash during the Fifth Annual Minnehaha Creek Cleanup.

At least 4,000 pounds of trash were removed from the area around Lake Hiawatha in South Minneapolis, and volunteers were bussed to locations including Lake Calhoun and Lake Nakomis. A discarded door won for “strangest piece of trash removed.”

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar served as the cleanup's grand marshal, and Jeremy Fink won a customized Leinenkugel’s canoe during a game of "Heads and Tails."

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District officials say the cleanup will help improve the Minnehaha Creek’s shoreline, creek bed and surrounding area.

The Minnehaha Creek watershed covers roughly 181 square miles, and includes the Chain of Lakes and Lake Minnetonka, which is the headwaters of the creek.