Manitou Beach near Watrous Saskatchewan holds special memories for me. Every summer in the 1950s and 1960s our family and my mother’s parents, siblings and the cousins would meet at Manitou Beach to picnic and swim in the mineral waters. The water was so salty you could literally sit in the water and still float. I loved playing in the water although I still remember the sting of the salt when we got it in our eyes.
There was a mineral water pool there as well (still there in fact although I believe the building has been replaced).
We also enjoyed the playground with the “twirl around thing” that one could jump on and off while siblings and cousins spun it faster and faster. I don’t remember what it was called.
My Mom, uncles and aunt talked often of the dance halls at Manitou. In fact Mom mentioned the other day that one of the old dance halls had horse hair under the floor to put added spring in the floor for the dancers. Can you imagine how much horse hair that would be? She remembers one part of the floor collapsing when the hair shifted or disintegrated underneath.
Imagine my delight when I came across old postcards of Manitou Beach on the Prairie Postcard section of Peel’s. Although many postcards were before my time it brought me back to Manitou and to all those wonderful memories of the cousins gatherings. Take a look….
===> Visit Manitou Beach postcards at Peel’s Prairie Provinces