Tires, cellphones and drones. Wedding rings, boats and a car fender.

Those are just some of the items Steve Clegg has hauled out of Cultus Lake during some of the hundreds of dives he鈥檚 done to pick up submerged trash.

The Chilliwack diver, along with a team of seven others will be at the lake on Saturday, June 24 for 鈥楳eet the Protectors: Restoring Cultus Lake鈥檚 Hidden Depths,鈥� an event organized by Tourism Ch鈥檌lliwack where the public is invited to watch as they pick up garbage from the lake鈥檚 floor.

The event will be held in conjunction with , a full day of fun and activities, organized by the Cultus Lake Park Board.

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Clegg and his team have been picking up trash from the bottom of the lake since the beginning of the pandemic. He does 鈥榝ree diving鈥� where he uses a snorkel and holds his breath while swimming in the more shallow areas while some of his buddies scuba dive in the deeper sections.

Most of the bigger 鈥渓egacy鈥� items are out of the lake and now the crew mainly does 鈥渕aintenance cleans,鈥� he said.

Larger items include car parts, tires (some as dock bumpers, some not), cowboy boots, construction materials, and various items used as boat anchors including car engines. They鈥檝e also removed sunken boats like kayaks, canoes and a sailboat hull.

On a recent cool spring afternoon when The Progress met up with him, Clegg picked up items more commonly seen these days like bottles and cans, a hair brush and elastics, a cellphone, a tennis ball, and assorted plastics. Sometimes they鈥檙e even able to return cellphone and drones to the owner so that they can get their photos back.

So what will Clegg teach folks on June 24? How can non-diving people help keep Cultus Lake beautiful?

鈥淚 operate on a saying that 鈥業f you can, you should.鈥� I can dive鈥� so I believe that I should,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 hoping people can do is just keep the material from getting into the lake in the first place.鈥�

The most interesting item he found over the past three and a half years was a hardcover book that was taped closed. Engraved on the cover was a person鈥檚 name. After opening the tape, he found the inside was hollowed out and it was filled with rocks.

鈥淚nside they left a hand-written note and it was quite a dramatic note,鈥� Clegg said. 鈥淚t looked like someone just needed to write out everything that was on their chest and send it out to the universe to move past something.鈥�

His most favourite find was a double CD set of the BeeGees. The discs still worked and his kids love the music, so now it鈥檚 their road trip playlist.

Clegg dives at the lake regularly and it鈥檚 not uncommon for him to go four or five times a week.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice after-work activity鈥� I swim for an hour, get a bag full of garbage, watch some fish, maybe find a treasure or two and help someone out who鈥檚 lost something.鈥�

The purpose of the Meet the Protectors event is to celebrate the work that Clegg and the other divers do in cleaning garbage from the lake, as well as promote sustainable and responsible tourism through Tourism Ch鈥檌lliwack鈥檚 鈥楶rotecting This Gift鈥� initiative. The action is call to embrace the beauty of Chilliwack while treading lightly upon its landscapes, while inspiring and educating visitors to become active participants in the ongoing efforts to protect and promote the long-term sustainability of the area.

鈥淚 love being outside and the feeling of being underwater where it鈥檚 silent, and the ability to escape our world and enter a different one鈥� spend time with fish and appreciate something that not many people get to see. To be immersed in that is a pretty special thing.鈥�

People can meet Clegg and his diving team during the Meet the Protectors: Restoring Cultus Lake鈥檚 Hidden Depths event at Cultus Lake Day on Saturday, June 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Main Beach. Look for the Tourism Ch鈥檌lliwack visitor information booth (located next to Main Beach Boat Rentals) at Cultus Lake Day for more details on the 鈥楶rotecting This Gift鈥� initiative.

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