It was a rainy day Wednesday, but that didn't stop the Black Hills Anglers from doing their biannual Rapid Creek cleanup.

"Well, I figure if we can fish in it, we can clean up in it, because we'd definitely be fishing if we could," group member Bob Sukut said.

Sukut was one of six volunteers from the club who scoured Rapid Creek for trash Wednesday evening. The Black Hills Anglers are one of 32 groups that are part of the city's Adopt A Creek program.

The goal of the program is to keep Rapid Creek clean and safe.

Black Hills Anglers member Ken Edel is the coordinator of the Adopt A Creek project.

Edel walked through the creek in his waders Wednesday, sifting through the refuse that has blown in since the last time the group did a cleanup.

He said people don't realize that any trash they carelessly toss to the ground could end up in the creek. "A lot of the trash they may throw out on the curb by Main Street ends up in the creek," he said.

Even waste that does end up in the trash can still end up in the creek, he said.

"If we have 60, 70, 80 mph wind and they don't secure their dumpster, all the trash ends up in the lowest spot in town - and that's Rapid Creek," Edel said.

The group cleans up twice a year, scooping up wastepaper, bottles, beer cans and other items that have landed in their section from Fifth Street to East Boulevard. On Wednesday they filled 30 trash bags with refuse just from that section.

The bags are picked up on the bike path by city employees.

Edel said groups have so far adopted sections of the creek from the park next to Cleghorn Springs Fish Hatchery all the way to the Star of the West complex in Rapid Valley.

The program is overseen by the city's Advocates for Community Enhancement, or A.C.E. department. Edel has also overseen a project that seeks to thin brush in some of the thicker areas of the creek in order to make it safer and cleaner.

People who are interested in helping with either project can call A.C.E. site coordinator Patricia Pummel at 355-3519. The A.C.E. office is at 21 Philadelphia Street.

Sukut said Edel has been a good leader on the Adopt A Creek program.

"Whenever there has to be something done, he's always there, and he's got the kind of personality that you're just jumping to help him out," he said.

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com.