Organizers of the 19th-annual Great Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup are seeking volunteers to collect trash from state beaches from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The program is jointly sponsored by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the nonprofit organization SOLV.

Participants can check in at one of 42 meeting sites on the Oregon Coast, pick up a bag and head to the beach to clear refuse. Beach captains will be stationed at the sites to guide volunteers and hand out bags.

Staging areas for the beach cleanup will include:

€ Yachats Chamber of Commerce;

€ Carl G. Washburne picnic area;

€ Heceta Beach;

€ the North Jetty of the Siuslaw River;

€ Siuslaw Valley Bank, Florence;

€ the South Jetty of the Siuslaw;

€ Siltcoos Outlet;

€ the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area office, Reedsport;

€ Umpqua Dunes;

€ Horsfall Beach;

€ Bastendorff Beach Park;

€ the Bandon Community Building (The Barn);

€ Battle Rock State Wayside;

€ Port of Gold Beach parking lot; and

€ the Brookings Information Center, opposite the entrance to Harris Beach State Park.

Groups of 20 or more people are asked to pre-register with the zone captain in the local area. Zone captains and meeting sites are listed online at http://www.solv.org.

For safety reasons, cleanup volunteers are asked to watch for sneaker waves, avoid logs, exercise caution on rocks and cliffs, and not turn their backs on the ocean. Organizers also recommend that participants wear warm clothing, sturdy shoes and gloves.

About 4,300 volunteers took part in the 2003 spring beach cleanup and removed 38 tons of trash, according to a SOLV press release.

For more information, those interested can call SOLV toll-free at (800) 333-SOLV (7658).