迪克西·里德

2021年2月2日

戴安娜孔特雷拉斯 ’20 (Accounting) thought her roommates were driving her to brunch in Folsom on Jan. 23, and that her boyfriend would meet them there.

She was confused when they made a slight detour to 囊状态’s Aquatic Center, on Lake Natoma. 接着，她看见德安德烈·威尔茨在码头尽头等着她。

“I said, ‘What is he doing out there?’ And I said, ‘You know that this is where Dre and I met for the first time?’ ”

她注意到威尔茨左手拿着一个红色的小盒子。

“The dock felt like a runway and, honestly, I couldn’t stop looking at him all the way down that runway,” Contreras said. “When he knelt, that’s when the tears started coming. It was so perfect: the place, the weather, the soothing water.”

 

The Aquatic Center, a program of Associated Students 公司。, has been the destination for recreational water sports, competitions, and children’s summer camps for the 萨克拉门托 State community and general public for 40 years. It’s also 萨克拉门托 State’s version of “The Love Boat.”

1984年，副主任辛迪·杜尔加（Cindi Dulgar）加入该中心并开始记录，自那以来，通过该中心认识的45对夫妇，无论是作为工作人员还是作为水项目的参与者，已经结婚了。

杜尔加说，第一次求婚是在纳托马湖中央的一艘独木舟上进行的。 一个滑水教练把他藏在背包里的订婚戒指送给了他的爱人，一个夏令营辅导员。

1984年，第一对结婚的夫妇是一名夏令营教练和一名大黄蜂橄榄球运动员。 他们的孩子参加了水上运动中心的夏令营。

“I told Dre, ‘When your kids are 7, they’ll have to come to summer camp here, where mom and dad met and got engaged,’ ” Dulgar said. “He laughed.”

In the summer of 2016, Contreras, who is from Santa Rosa, and Wiltz, who grew up in Elk Grove, attended 囊状态’s New 学生辅导. 传统上，大黄蜂的成人仪式在距离校园15英里的水上运动中心举行的新生之夜达到高潮。

“I just wanted everybody to have a good time,” said Wiltz, who earlier had taken on the lifeguards in a water bucket battle.

“I saw her standing on the dock, talking to a friend. And I said, ‘You should participate in the water sports.’ She said, ‘Well, I plan on staying dry today.’ I kinda laughed and got a bucket of water — the biggest bucket I could find — and ended up dumping it on her and her friend,” he said.

那天孔特雷拉斯拉直了她的长发，并不想弄湿它。

“I always wonder what really went through his mind to pour a bucket of water over me,” she said. “I was thankful afterward, because I started having fun, and Dre made sure to pop up a lot during Frosh Night.”

两人很快成为了亲密的朋友，在萨克州立大学的第一个学期一起上了四门课。 一年后，他们开始约会。

求婚的日子到了，威尔茨知道必须在水上运动中心举行。

“I wanted to go back there, because it’s where we met, and we tell people the water bucket story all the time. It’s one of our favorite memories,” said Wiltz, who works for Apple and is finishing up one class before his graduation from 囊状态 in May.

He got permission from the center’s staff and then conspired with the three roommates to deliver Contreras, who had dressed up for what she thought was brunch at the Cliff House. 家人和朋友躲在附近的海滩上，等待她的到来。

As soon as they knew she said “yes,” they all ran into the open and cheered.

“We have lots of friends and family who have seen our love story write itself over time,” said Contreras, an accountant at Balarsky & Beebout CPAs. “And I love the fact that he took me back to the spot where we met, where we started a new chapter of our lives that we didn’t know we would experience together — and now we start another chapter.

“The Aquatic Center,” she said, “is a big part of our love story.”

这对夫妇正在考虑在2022年5月举行婚礼。 位置待定。