By Betty Rugg – Elstow, Sask.
It was in about 1971 or 1972 that my husband Barry and I took our two youngest girls, Carol (10) and Lois (8) for a dip in the Chalet Pool at Manitou Beach near Watrous, Sask. The pool was filled with mineral waters from nearby Little Manitou Lake.
Because it is a saltwater lake with about half of the salinity of the Dead Sea, swimmers can easily float. Both Lois and I had trouble keeping our feet on the bottom of the pool. We stayed where we could hang on to the side of the pool. Barry and Carol headed down to the deep end for a swim.
After a short while of bobbing like corks, I looked down at my left hand just in time to see my wedding ring about to slide off my finger. I quickly realized my engagement ring was already in the pool. Panic set in!
I frantically waved to Barry to come to where we were. As soon as he and Carol got there I said, “Tell them to drain the pool! My engagement ring fell into the water!”
“The management wouldn’t want to do that,” he said. “Let’s see if we can feel it with our feet.”
She needed help staying under
I was for draining the pool, but as I hadn’t moved from the spot where I saw the other ring sliding off, we decided to give it a try. All four of us were trying to feel for the ring with our feet. A few minutes later, Lois said, “I think I’ve stepped on it, but I’m not sure.”
The floor of the pool was quite rough and it was hard to tell. Carol donned her goggles and nose plugs and volunteered to dive under the water to retrieve it. Because of the high salinity in the water, it is impossible to stay under. The minerals in the water make it too buoyant and quite murky.
“Try it again,” I said, “and I’ll try and hold you under long enough to find it.”
She put the goggles back on, took a deep breath and dove under. I held her down momentarily…until I looked up and saw people on the balcony overlooking the pool. “Good grief,” I thought to myself. “They’ll think I’m trying to drown my daughter!”
Up she came, but still no ring. Lois said she was sure it was still under her foot. After some point in time, Carol was finally able to pick up the ring with her toes. I grabbed the ring when her foot came up to the surface. What a relief! They didn’t have to drain the pool after all!
