Wascana Lake Dredging 2003-2004.
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Wascana Lake Dredging 2003-2004. |
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Click here for "Draining the Lake -- Oct. 19 to 26."
Click here for "The lake freezes and digging starts -- January 2004
Click here for "Digging in a cold February 2004
August 8 to October 19, 2003.
The Canada Games are coming to Regina in 2005 to celebrate Saskatchewan's 100th Anniversary. Part of the preparations (in addition to expanding our Lakeshore Tennis Club) is the dredging of Wascana Lake. In the early days it was a deep lake suitable for swimming but over the years it has silted up, grown weeds and become a summer camp for geese and ducks. The dredging started in August when Wascana Creek was deepened to prevent flooding and drain the lake.
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The draining of the lake began on Wednesday, October 15 and we strolled down from our apartment on Saturday to see how it was going. Answer: slowly.
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We expected to find green yucky mud but it was a nice gray colour. (Did you know that 'grey' is English but 'gray' is American? Both look like the muck in the lake.) We expected to find a few dead bodies but only saw a buoy and a muskrat sleeping in an old tire. (Did you notice that I used 'tire' and not the English 'tyre'?) There was less garbage than we expected.
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On our walk home (we are only about 2 blocks from the lake) we saw a jack rabbit waiting for us. On our right is Darke Hall which was the first theatre building in Regina. It was the home of the Regina Little Theatre for many years. The next building was part of the old University of Regina Campus. It is now the Seniors' Education Centre (where Arnie attends his Writers' Classes). If you look over Junes left shoulder you can see our 7th floor balcony. The house across the street was the Darke home and then was used as the Helmsing Funeral Home. It has been sold to a family who are rebuilding it and adding an indoor swmimming pool.
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On Sunday, October 19, we walked again to see how much water drained out. Lots. Except for special days, Pile-of-Bones-Sunday and Buffalo Days, we haven't seen this many people out. They all came to see the draining. The "Keep Out" signs didn't stop the bikers.
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It has been the warmest October in our 33 years here. On the way back we rested at Speaker's Corner (lamps are from London's Hyde Park) and bumped into Bob and Susie.
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Click here for "Draining the Lake -- Oct. 19 to 26."
Click here for "The lake freezes and digging starts -- January 2004
Click here for "Digging in a cold February 2004
Created October 19, 2003 -- Revised: October 29, 2003
