A phone booth, three mattresses, 44 tires and a dog carrier were among the more unusual items gathered by volunteers who turned out for Saturday's spring cleanup along the Augusta Canal.

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More than 150 people gathered several tons of trash -- enough to fill three roll-off dumpsters -- from Lake Olmstead and the canal area from the headgates to Augusta, said Tonya Bonitatibus, the director of Savannah Riverkeeper.

The Augusta Canal Authority's semiannual cleanup also yielded televisions, a refrigerator and other appliances, a vanity and four other pieces of furniture -- even a medicine cabinet.

Most of the trash was more typical -- glass bottles, thousands of food wrappers and cigarette butts, she said. Among the more dangerous items were batteries and a 55-gallon drum filled with old antifreeze.

The event's sponsors also included the Augusta-Richmond County recreation and solid waste departments and participants in the new "Adopt a Canal Trail" project launched last week.

Martin Marietta Materials Augusta Quarry, the program's first official trail adopter, concentrated its efforts on the canal's upper two miles, said Bill Heubel, a senior micro support specialist at the quarry.

"We had 41 people on the towpath, and they pulled somewhere between 10 and 15 pickup loads of trash and debris up from both sides of the trail," he said. "It was quite a day, and we are already planning our next activity on our section. We've barely scratched the surface."

Bonitatibus said cleanup campaigns are a wonderful way to generate civic pride and stimulate interest in natural resources.

"What's better than being able to bring the community together for only four hours and being able to make such an impact?" she said.

The Canal Authority is still seeking adopters for many other sections of the waterway.

Interested groups can contact the canal's Adopt a Trail coordinator at (706) 823-0440, ext. 8, or e-mail adoptatrail@augustacanal.com.