It's the time of year when lake-area residents come together to plan Take Pride in Smith Mountain Lake, a volunteer lake cleanup and joint effort of the Smith Mountain Lake Association, Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission and SML Chamber of Commerce.

"Anyone can volunteer," said Bob Camicia, chairperson of the 22nd annual event and president of SMLA. "You don't have to be a member [of the host groups]."

Camicia is looking for volunteers to head the various committees needed to get the daylong event, scheduled for May 2, to run without a hitch. Committees include financing, marketing, fundraising, advertising, food, operations, packaging and publicity.

"It's not extremely time-consuming," said Camicia. "It's about a three-hour-a-week job."

Committee chairs meet monthly between now and March, organizing the event and soliciting volunteers for the big day. In April, the chairs will meet weekly.

The annual lake cleanup event has drawn as many as 1,000 people to pick up trash along the shoreline and to drag trash and floating logs out of the lake.

Last year, volunteers pulled 55 tons of trash and logs from the lake, said Camicia. It was a down year for collections because of the drought, he said.

"What normally brings most of the stuff into the lake is heavy rain and hurricanes," said Camicia. "Those years, we get 100-plus tons."

The annual event costs about $8,000 to $10,000, he said. Appalachian Power is the platinum sponsor, with Western Virginia Water Authority and lake-area businesses also contributing.

"The business community funds it and the public does it," said Camicia.

Volunteers who sign up to clean the lake on May 2 will receive a gift bag with a T-shirt, gloves and other items.

Those interested in chairing one of the Take Pride committees can contact SMLA, TLAC or the Chamber. Camicia said to leave a name and number and someone will return the call to answer questions and determine the best committees for the volunteers.

To volunteer, e-mail SMLA at theoffice@smlassociation.org or TLAC at tlac@sml.us.com. If e-mail is not an option, call the Chamber at (540) 721-1203 or TLAC at (540) 721-4400.