In the beginning, there were two men, 60 tires and 45 shopping carts.

Jeff Ray and Dennis York of Henry County decided to try to clean up the Big Blue River. They started behind what is now the First Baptist Church and worked north toward Ind. 38. With every step in the river, they found trash.

"We only worked as long as we had strength," Ray remembered. "You get tired after about four hours of this."

Over a three-day period, the two men removed 60 tires, 45 shopping carts, 10 buckets and nine barrels from the Big Blue.

That first cleanup about 11 years ago inspired more cleanups and eventually, led to the creation of Friends of the Big Blue River, a group that is celebrating 10 years of raising awareness and helping the small river that runs through Henry County.

Friends of the Big Blue River hosts about three river cleanups a year. Since 2001, the group has removed hundreds of tires from the river - and countless other pieces of trash. In addition, each year, the group hosts an event called Canoe the Big Blue, which encourages people who've never been on the river to get in a canoe and enjoy the ride.

Ray, who's now 55 years old, was there for the first Big Blue cleanup, and he's still there when they happen today.

He grew up fishing and swimming in an eight-acre pond on his parents' property. So a love of nature was ingrained in his life at an early age.

As an adult, he read a story in the newspaper about a person who organized cleanups of the Mississippi River. Ray and York decided to take a similar approach with the Big Blue. "If he can do it on the Mississippi, surely we can do this on the Big Blue," Ray said with a laugh. So over a three-day period in 2001, Ray and York fished dozens of pieces of debris out of the river. On the third day, community service workers came and helped load a trailer to take the trash away. Ray also convinced retailers along the Big Blue to allow him to put some of the trash in their Dumpsters. "It was amazing," Ray said of the first cleanup.

The 2001 cleanup started a trend that's still there for Friends of Big Blue. While the group organizes the cleanups, other agencies, like the City of New Castle and Henry County government, pitch in to make the events work. Friends of the Big Blue doesn't raise money for the river's cause. Instead, the group depends on the city and the Big Blue River Conservancy District to help dispose of the garbage in the river.

Eventually, after that 2001 cleanup, York wrote a story about the experience. That story, which was posted on the Internet, caught the eye of Lee Ann Wallen, who had just moved back to Henry County. Wallen contacted York and Ray, and they decided to start a river-supporting organization. Wallen, whose father was a fisherman, said she's always been fascinated by water. And the Big Blue runs behind her home in Henry County.

For years after returning to the county, Wallen had never seen anyone using the river for recreation. Then, suddenly one day, she was driving down the road when she saw a man in a kayak on the Big Blue. "I about crashed the car," Wallen said. Wallen stopped the man and talked to him about kayaking. The man even let her try the kayak. And for her next birthday, her husband bought her a kayak of her own. "A trip down the river ... is worth a pound of Prozac," Wallen said with a laugh.

Friends of the Big Blue held its first meetings with about five people in attendance in Ray's home in New Castle. Ray said he brought an outline of what the organization could do, and the group's members started to follow that outline. They wanted to hold a community-wide meeting about the river. And they did at the New Castle-Henry County Public Library. About 30 people showed up.

They wanted to do more cleanups. And they did. "The rest is just a bunch of tires," Ray said of the group's story. After a decade of work, supporters of the group say the river is cleaner than's been for decades. And they also say more people are using the river for recreation than ever before. As for the future of the group, Wallen said the organization may expand its focus to other waterways in the county. And Ray said the group wants to encourage more people to become interested in the Big Blue and to use the river for recreation.

Supporters of Friends of the Big Blue River say although there are key members, like Wallen and Kathy Rogers, Ray is the leader. Shelia Marion, a member of the group, said Ray's dedication keeps the organization going. She remembered a moment when she was canoing down the river with others and there was a tree across the water. While using a chainsaw to cut the tree, Ray balanced with one foot on the tree and one foot on a canoe. Marion said that moment let her know how dedicated Ray was to the river. "I was just thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this may be a little dangerous,'" Marion said. Wallen said the group hasn't had moments when it's almost given up because Ray is relentless. "He's the glue that holds us together," she said.

Ray's inspiration likely lies in that first cleanup. York, who documented that cleanup in 2001, wrote then, "Anyone that has ever volunteered for any type of program helping others will know what I mean when I say, the euphoric feeling of what we accomplished on this project has enough energy within itself to light an entire city."