The walking trail between Watrous and Manitou Beach is finished. Ron Ediger (centre) donated his company's time and equipment to build it. He was joined by Watrous Mayor John Gunderson  and Manitou Beach Mayor Poppy Petersen  Facebook/Town of Watrous

By Doug Lett

Path completed between Watrous and Manitou Beach

Walking trail open between Manitou Beach and Watrous

Oct 28, 2022 | 4:00 PM

There’s a new walking trail that’s an added attraction at one of the province’s most popular tourism spots.

A walking trail has been finished between the resort village of Manitou Beach and the nearby town of Watrous.

The area has been a tourist attraction for decades because of the mineral waters of LIttle Manitou Lake – and now for the first time, there is a completed walking trail between the town and the resort village.

“People are using it just steady, there’s people on it every day, ” said Ron Ediger. Ediger owns Melron Service Ltd., a construction company, and since last fall his company has donated its time and equipment to finish the last few kilometers of the trail.

“The safe part about it is people aren’t on the highway walking anymore, which they were doing before, with young kids riding their bicycles. Now they’re on the trail,” he said.

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Ediger said he took on the project because he wanted to give back to the communities that helped him succeed.

“That’s the way I was brought up, to give back to folks,” said Ediger.

The completed trail builds on the earlier Rotary trail, which goes around the north end of Watrous. According to Watrous Mayor John Gunderson, it’s another boost to the region.

“Tourism is a very important part of our local economy, for both communities,” said Gunderson. “This is just another great thing to connect the two communities.”

Gunderson added the two communities are grateful to Ediger.

“We appreciate that very much,” he said. “It was totally funded by Ron, and we are very appreciative of that.”

Ediger said the work took about seven months to complete, but his company worked on the trail when they had downtime.

“Whenever we had an opening in my work schedule with my employees, I said ‘let’s hit the trail’ and that’s what we did…it was a periodic work schedule,” said Ediger.’

He said the completed trail is up to ten feet wide, built on a base of gravel, with clay compaction and a sand seal on top of it. Culverts were also put in where needed.

On Oct. 21, the two communities had a ceremony to open the new trail. Ediger said there are benches along the route, but signs still need to be installed.

The company Melron Service Ltd is a combination of the first name of Ron’s late wife Melissa, and Ron.

“It was our 25th year of business this year, so I wanted to give back to the two communities that helped make me,” said Ediger.

doug.lett@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @DougLettSK