Nicolette Cariveau had one wish, to have a pool in her backyard. She got it, and more.
Nicolette, 12, Grand Forks, wished for a pool through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Nicolette was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April of this year and has had two surgeries since.
Not only did Nicolette get a brand-new heated pool Sunday, but she also got a hot tub and a big, wrapped box full of pool toys.
Chris Wagner with Premier Living in Grand Forks got a team of volunteers together to prep, install and heat the Cariveaus' pool. The Grand Forks Fire Department filled the pool Sunday afternoon, and volunteers were working to install the heater.
The pool can hold 13,500 gallons of water and would have taken three to four days to fill with a garden hose. The fire department did it in 40 minutes.
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Construction on the pool started Friday, and the entire process has taken much less time than expected.
"We just kind of putzed around yesterday because we had already made so much progress," Wagner said Sunday.
Nicolette jumped into the cold pool right away in an agreement that Grand Forks Fire Captain Bruce Weymier would jump in, too.
"He just dared me because he didn't think I would do it," she said.
"He didn't even jump," she said smiling. "He just used the ladder. I did a cannonball."
"Then, they both warmed up in the hot tub," Wagner said.
Nicolette is in sixth grade at Schroeder Middle School and has a pool party planned for her friends Friday after school. She hopes to have a slide in her pool before her party, which her dad, Dan Cariveau, will work to install before Friday.
Nicolette also is a dancer and takes lessons at Dance Etc! in Grand Forks.
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Nicolette made her wish at the end of July, but when Wagner heard about it, he had everything together in four days, said Diane Cariveau, Nicolette's mother.
"We found an angel," Diane Cariveau said. "Dan called him and told him about her wish, and he started working right away.
"When he called and asked if we could install a pool, I thought he meant maybe May or June of next year," Wagner said. "But then he told me it was a wish for his daughter."
Other agencies involved in making Nicolette's wish come true are Acme Rents, Grand Forks Water Department, Hebron Brick & Block, Johnson Law Firm, Lessard Construction, Lunseth Plumbing and Heating, Pool & Spa Solutions, Northland Maintenance and Construction, Superior Pools of Minneapolis and Xcel Energy.
Nicolette has a Web site at www.caringbridge.org . Her site can be viewed by typing in her full name, in all lower case letters and no spaces, into the search bar.
A yellow rubber ducky wearing sunglasses floats around Nicolette's pool and serves as a thermometer.
"I love it," she said of her new pool.
Reach Gibson at (701) 787-6754, or lgibson@gfherald.com .
