Audio Transcript

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If you take a look to the lake, you'll see an island. That's Willow Island! This public space can be used for a variety of activities and is accessible via the Wasco ferry, which transports up to 8 people per trip across beautiful Wascana Lake. Willow island is so perfect for a picnic, it should be named picnic island. It has barbecues, picnic tables, benches, washrooms, water fountains and fire pits, as well as games like horse shoes, volleyball and croquet. The best part - it's all free!

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Willow Island is a great example of the natural beauty that the Wascana Centre has to offer as it boasts some of the oldest and largest trees in the park, as well as a diverse sampling of plant species which are native to the area. The island is man made and was built in 1930 when Wascana lake was deepened by hand.

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It was quite the project. 2,107 unemployed men were given work using hand shovels and dump wagons to deepen the lake by excavating a huge amount of earth. The earth that was pulled from the lake bed needed somewhere to go, so rather than haul it away they created willow and spruce islands.

The Wascana Center decided to make the island available to the public as part of another deepening project in the year 2000, so I hope you brought your hot dogs and fancy cheese!