There was a time when the annual cleanup day in East Lawrence meant hauling away truckload after truckload of junk.

Times have changed, longtime members of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Assn. said.

“We used to get the city trucks to pick up tree branches and refrigerators,” said Bill Wachspress, an 11-year East Lawrence resident.

Not anymore.

Saturday, about 20 members of the neighborhood association and their families gathered at Hobbs Park for the annual spring cleanup. They scattered throughout several blocks, walking through alleys and along sidewalks to pick up what trash they could find.

“We used to have to call out reinforcements for this,” said Pete Laufer, who was out combing the neighborhood along with Elizabeth Sedita, her three children and her father, Sam Sedita.

From left, Liz Brosius, Jean Burgess, Eric Farnsnorth, Ardys Ramberg and K.T. Walsh enjoy a picnic at Hobbs Park. The East Lawrence Neighborhood Assn. conducted its annual neighborhood cleanup and picnic Saturday.

“Today we’re down to picking up bottle caps and candy wrappers,” Laufer said. “There just hasn’t been that much to pick up.”

Laufer and his entourage did find a few unusual items. One of them was what appeared to be an artist’s clipboard, with a mysterious handwritten message scrawled on it that said, “You watched me fall with no expense at all.”

Another find in the trash pile was a box of old record albums.

Through the years, the city has made it easier to get large items such as furniture, appliances and tree branches hauled away as part of routine trash pickups, said Ed Tato, president of the association.

After the neighborhood canvass was complete, association members returned to the park for a picnic lunch. Most of the food was donated by local businesses, Tato said.

“We’re just trying to make the neighborhood a little nicer and a little prettier.”