A Final Adieu to the Medicine Hat Riverside Water Slides

As my wife can attest, I am not one to get sentimental. Every house we have moved from, I shed not a tear. Each vehicle sold, I am more than happy to get rid of. Even tossing out that box of “art” from my kindergarten year(s), I did without a second thought.

But I am having a difficult time with the fact I will never have the enjoyment of sliding down the pigtail one more time. Flying over the “Drop of Doom” as your stomach hit your throat. Or floating down the lazy river on a tube with the sun beating on my back and my toes dragging in the water. Without a care in the world.

I remember going as a kid. Labour day weekend, the weekend when the slides would open every year. I would have a black X on my calendar marking the date.

We would arrive around 9:30am, slides open at 10. The lineup was all the way down those wooden stairs. After what seemed like forever, we entered the hallway were the cashier asked us for our right hand as she put an stamp on it. Not just any stamp, but a “magic” invisible stamp that could only been seen under a special light.

Then there was the floating tap, I must have stared at that thing forever the first time I seen it just trying to figure out how it works.

Was the mini-golf not one of the best courses you have ever putted? Seriously, any other course I go to now pales in comparison. The crickety windmill, the granary, the water running along side each hole… its still unmatched after all these years.

The go-carts were OK. Best when you went with a few buddies and did a little bumper cars, if the kid working wasn’t paying attention.

And topping the “best day ever”, we would get a waffle cone on the way out, meandering through the gift shop exhausted and sun burned from a full day.

Other memories:

The crazy brits. They were harmless, but you sure didn’t want to go in front of them.

Rumors. Razorblades, people flying over the sides, more slides….etc, etc.

The cold showers before you ran out on the cool cement deck when you first arrived.

Remember that crazy circular thing you would be strapped into and spun all around? What was that thing called again?

Night slides. Ooooh the night slides. enough said.

I don’t think its realistic that they will ever open again. Too much money will have to be sunk into it for a couple months of (lost) revenue each year. And as much as I would like the City to save it, it can not be justified.

If you were brought up in Medicine Hat, its no doubt a part of you too. What memories do you have?