Ten-year-old Daniel Fenton and 7-year-old Chris Cain last month worked to protect the beauty of the Meramec River. This time, Daniel brought along friends from his Cub Scout Pack to help.

The boys were among hundreds of volunteers who took part in the 36th annual Operation Clean Stream. That's the giant trash cleanup that covers the watersheds of the Meramec and its biggest tributaries.

This year's cleanup has special significance. It also marked the 25th anniversary of a 12-county referendum in 1978. That's when Missouri voters decided they wanted the Meramec to remain a free-flowing stream.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers had been authorized to build three big dams on the Meramec. That was supposed to provide storage of spring and summer runoff water to lessen flooding along the Mississippi River.

But, local protests like the referendum resulted in a reversal of the Corps' dam plans.

Stopping the Corps' plans to flood 23,000 acres of Meramec river valley was one thing. Keeping the river valley beautiful was something else.

That's because people throw all sorts of junk and garbage into the Meramec. They also litter along the tributaries like the Big, Bourbeuse, Courtois and Huzzah rivers.

Chris Cain has been on Clean Stream cleanup efforts for the last four years. His dad, Larry Cain, is on the Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region. That's the group that coordinates clean-up efforts on the Meramec.

Asked about the biggest piece of junk he's ever found, Chris said, "A school bus." The old bus had been parked along the river as a vacation shelter. But, high water had toppled the bus and filled it with sand.

It finally took a National Guard armored tank "puller" to get that cleaned up.

Daniel's biggest junk find has been a car and a washing machine.

This was Daniel's second year on the Meramec cleanup. Last year, he worked with his family. But, this year, he brought along other members of Cub Scout Pack 325 to help.

Daniel and his friends worked along and in the river near Green Tree Park in his hometown of Kirkwood. That's the same section he worked last year.

He said he helps with the cleanup so the river will be beautiful when the family takes its float trips. Last month, he and his mother, Linda, joined three other people on the Meramec near Cuba, Mo.

They floated the river for seven hours on two rafts. He said they had their lunch on a sand bar in the river.

"Usually we use canoes but, this time, we wanted to try something different," he said.

Chris' family did their cleanup work a stretch of the Big River near Eureka. That's the same area they worked on last year. This year, he worked in a crew that included two of his cousins, Nick and Justin Serati of Oakville.

Chris' family has been interested in the condition of the Meramec. His grandfather has a vacation cabin on the river. It's his grandfather's johnboat they use during the cleanup.

Chris has accumulated a "cleanup uniform" for his work. He's got a life vest, water shoes and work gloves. Then, there's a soft hat, sun glasses and sunscreen for sun protection.

He's also got his own small shovel. Chris admits, "I like to dig in the mud."

He and his family work both along the riverbank and on the river. One year, their johnboat was filled with so many old tires they had to get out and wade alongside.

Although he knows how to swim, he found out earlier this summer how valuable the life vest can be. He was in a race at camp and fell out of his canoe. "The first thing I had to do was catch the canoe paddle before it floated away," he said.

Chris has been fishing, swimming, canoeing and kayaking on the Meramec. For fishing, he said he uses crickets to catch sunfish.

In addition to the August cleanups, Chris and his family go on winter cleanups near Fenton and Arnold. Chris' dad, Larry, said sometimes it's easier to spot junk in the winter because leaves are off the trees and bushes.

If you'd like to get involved in Operation Clean Stream, you can call 1-866-983-9900.