The Saskatchewan Underwater Council headed out to Lovering Lake to try something new this weekend, inviting divers from across the province to come prepared with their gear and a pumpkin for the first-ever Pumpkin Dive.
Taking place on Oct. 4 with some much-appreciated good weather, a dozen certified divers plunged into the water to take part in a clean-up of the local lake followed by an underwater pumpkin carving challenge.
“We had amazing weather for the first part of October and a great turnout,” said SUC secretary Tracy Wilson-Gerwing, in an email with the Moose Jaw Express. “A lot of laughs and fun were had among those that attended and we’re already looking forward to next year’s event.”
Carving pumpkins underwater is trickier than it may seem, said Wilson-Gerwing prior to the event, but participants were excited to try their hand.
“It is actually more challenging than what people think, because pumpkins are very [bouyant] so as soon as you take the top off or put a hole in it, it just wants to float away from you,” said Wilson-Gerwing. “So there’s that extra bit of making sure you can hang onto your pumpkin and all its parts and your knife, and still carve something half-decent.”
The finished pumpkins were posted to the SUC’s Facebook page for a judging contest, with the most likes taking the prize.
The event was organized in partnership with the local diving group, the Moose Jaw Barracudas Scuba Diving Club, who offered the use of their facilities at Lovering Lake for the day.
This is the first time the SUC has hosted an event like this, but members felt it was a great success and piqued some interest in the prairie diving community — which was exactly what the SUC was hoping to do.
“A lot of people don’t know there is a thriving scuba diving community in the province. Everyone thinks ‘scuba diving’ and they think of Mexico, the Caribbean, warm waters, that kind of thing, but there’s quite a community here,” said Wilson-Gerwing. “And so we like to bring out some fun events, to bring divers together.”
