by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Sarah Hall is hoping her 16.5 kilometre swim of Muskrat Lake not only raised funds for the Muskrat Watershed Council, but also brings awareness that the lake needs help to get clean.
Ms. Hall went into Muskrat Lake at the bottom of Meath Hill, as did Julie Sylvestre, but in a kayak as her support.
The water was perfect, she said.
“The temperature was great, Ms. Hall added, saying, There was a section where it was really choppy. I had my doubts in that brief time.”
Hoping for a time of six hours, she was pretty close, coming out 24 minutes passed the six hour mark. Swimming against the current the whole time, and the spot where it was choppy, Ms. Hall is happy with her time.
“I kind of had my moments when I wasn’t quite sure, but we pulled through it,” she said.
“You have people who help you, like my husband (Steve Ferris) in the boat, and I knew what positions he was at, so when I saw him I knew what kilometre he was at. That was super, super helpful.
“Julie pulled me through it,” Ms. Hall added. “Your kayaker makes all the difference in the world. All you see the whole time is that flag and you keep going.” There was a small triangular yellow flag tied to the back of Ms. Sylvestre’s kayak.
Those on the beach clapped as Ms. Hall was close enough to the Cobden beach to hear it. When she stood up and held her hands high in the air, the clapping got louder and the shouting of “yea Sarah” could be heard.
“Let me be the first one to congratulate you,” said Whitewater Region Mayor Hal Johnson.
Hanging onto her hand, he said, “That’s amazing that you could do that. We appreciate what you are doing. The council, the residents, watershed council, all of Whitewater Region. It’s just amazing, just awwwwwesome.”
Mayor Johnson added, “You went in a swimmer and came out a hero, in my mind. Not very many people here who would have walked from Meath Hill to here, you swam it.”
Ms. Hall, a professor at Algonquin College in Pembroke, said, “It’s really about the lake and about believing we can do positive things here and that we can make a difference and that we all have a contribution to make.
“The folks on the Muskrat Watershed Council have done an amazing job in bringing awareness,” she said. “I hope that this helps as well.
“We all know there are certainly some environmental challenges, but it’s such a beautiful area, all of the species of fish that we have here, it’s amazing to be able to live on this lake and my students and the college are actively involved in trying to help.
“We Want the people to have a place to be able to swim and fish and to look out their window and know that things are going to improve.”
Arriving an hour later were swimmers Jackie McGregor of Beachburg and Jeff White of Pembroke with Jeff’s mom Jan in the support kayak. Ms. McGregor and Mr. White switched off in the water during the swim.
“It was a really good swim,” Ms. McGregor said. “The lake was rough today. The water temp was great and it didn’t rain.”
Ms. McGregor said Mr. White swam 10 kilometres and then she swam for an hour, which would be about four kilometres and Mr. White finished.
“We kind of planned in the winter that we would switch off,” she said. “If he needed me to swim, I’d be there to swim. He did very well today.”
Mr. White agreed, saying, “It was a long swim, a long way to go, but it’s good.”
He decided to participate because Ms. Hall is a good friend and they swim a lot together.
“Sarah’s very passionate about it,” he said, adding, “It was not only a fundraiser, but a chance to raise awareness. The lake is going through some troubles so raising awareness of that and raising funds for the Muskrat Watershed Council isn’t a bad thing.”
Karen Coulas, chair of the MWC, agreed with the swimmers.
“We need to start taking care of our water,” she said. “This lake in particular, for us of course.
“We need to bring these issues forward.”
Ms. Coulas said not only was the swim a fundraiser but an opportunity to bring awareness to as many people as possible that Muskrat Lake needs to be cleaned up. At lakeside, there was a display set up about the MWC as well as a silent auction and hamburgers and hotdogs grilling on the large barbecue.
She noted people are responding to the fundraising, as there was about $4,000 raised on the gofundme page, which was more than the $2,500 goal.
“I would love to get the clean-up of the lake done,” Ms. Coulas said. “But, to do clean-up of the lake is going to take a lot of money and we’re a small community.”
What’s needed is political backing from the provincial and federal governments. She noted the provincial government is paying for the testing of the water, which is a huge expense being covered.
This year, a water flow system is to be installed in the lake near the beach, in hopes it can be opened this summer, Ms. Coulas said.
“We can’t say definitely it’s going to work, but if it works and we can open the beach for the kids and tourists to play in the water, that’s going to be a big win for us,” she said.
While Ms. Coulas doesn’t believe the need for financial support is falling on deaf ears, she does believe that since there is no structure set up for clean-up of lakes, no one knows what to do.
“Our lakes were good for so long and we’re pretty darn spoiled when it comes to water quality,” she said. “Now that things are changing, that (financial and support) system is not already in place so it has to be made and engineered – that’s what I think.”
As for the small crowd at the beach to welcome Ms. Hall, and only a few people to welcome Mr. White and Ms. McGregor, Ms. Coulas said, “I would have liked to see everybody in the township here, but there was a steady kind of flow of people coming in and donating. Can’t complain about that. It’s hard to be everywhere in the summer.”
