Manitou Beach celebrating 100 years with floating record attempt

The Resort Village of Manitou Beach it going big to promote the 100th anniversary of its popular mineral lake.

"Most people know Little Manitou Lake for the salt and mineral content and what comes with that is the unique experience,"said community development officer Brendan Manz.

"You can simply lay back and float effortlessly."

On Saturdaythe village, which is about 95 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon,will gather as many people as it can to take a float at the same time.

The original idea was to have people float and read at the same time, but that was a little too precise to receive support from the Guinness World Record organization.

"Regardless of the Guinness record or not we're just going to invite everybody out," said Manz.

Organizers will record participants' names and where they're from.

Since the event has never happened before, Saturday's float will set a benchmark for the community to challenge in coming years.

Bring your floaties

Little Manitou Lake is 13 miles long and half a mile wide. The beach has two sections, so organizers aren't worried about making room for the floaters.

Some areas have been designated for families and shallow water swimmers while strong swimmers and people comfortable in more depth can take their place further from shore.

"We're inviting people if they have life vests or personal floatation devices or anything else they want to bring, they're more than welcome to bring that as well," said Manz.

The campground and nearby spa is expectedto be full to capacity and most of the village's 2,000 residents will be floating on Saturday.

The village is employing first responders and several boats to manage the float.

Registration starts at 11 a.m. CST with all floaters in the water to be counted at 2 p.m.