Buckets for the Trash Bash will be available from 2 – 9 p.m. tomorrow, Friday in the Bonney Lake Home Depot parking lot.

In the Summer of 2010, Jon Bodewell and his 6-year-old daughter Cierra Schoen walked to the edge of Lake Tapps near their Tapps Island home to feed the baby ducks that frequented their dock.

It was something they had done many times before, but all of a sudden, Cierra stepped on something and began screaming in pain. At first, Bodewell thought she stepped on a stick or a sharp rock, but when he got to her, it was much worse than he expected.

“When I lifted her up a big, huge flap of skin on the top of her foot looked like a big slice of bologna,” he said Friday.

Cierra spent six hours at the hospital that day, receiving 15 stitches and a “candy cane scar,” though ultimately she is fine.

When he checked the water’s edge to see what cut Cierra’s foot, Bodwell found a broken Crown Royal bottle washed up near the shore that she had apparently stepped on.

With that the idea for the Trash Bash, a sort-of neighborhood cleanup for Lake Tapps, was born. The idea was simple: make sure no one else’s fun was ended by an injury due to trash.

“It ruined our summer,” he said.

Bodwell said he could not put something together while the lake was drawn down last year, but has been busily working this year so when the lake hits its lowest level of the year later this month, he and his volunteers will be ready.

“There is a lot of trash,” he said, adding that this summer while snorkeling in the lake he was surprised at the amount of debris on the bottom, mainly empty bottles and cans presumably tossed overboard by boaters.

This year’s inaugural event is scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29 and Bodwell has received support from several local business, including Home Depot, which is donating 1,000 orange buckets to help the clean up efforts. The buckets will be distributed Jan. 27 in the Home Depot parking lot.

Bodwell said the buckets are essential because the items they expect to pick up could rip through a bag.

In preparation, Bodwell said five large bins will be set up around the lake to collect all of the trash. Bodwell said bins are planned for Allan Yorke Park in Bonney Lake, Tapps Island, just outside North Tapp Park at the north end of the lake, on 214th Avenue East between Snag Island and Inlet Island and a fifth site, presently set for somewhere near the North Tapps Highway East and Sumner-Tapps Highway East.

Bodwell said his primary areas of focus will be the county park and “anywhere there’s large quantities of public.”

Applebee’s is also sponsoring the event and hosted a pancake breakfast Saturday morning with all proceeds going to the Trash Bash. There will also be a raffle of items donated by local merchants.

Bodwell said this is the first time he has tried to put together an event like this and has been encouraged by the support.

“I just want to bring awareness that as a community we can make a difference,” he said.

And though removing the potentially dangerous items are the primary concern, Bodwell expects to find just about anything out there on the lake floor.

“There’s at least four or five pairs of my sunglasses out there from riding the Sea Doo,” he said with a laugh. “I know that.”