It has been fairly mild weather for a few weeks and now suddenly we are in the mid twenties, and low thirties. This weekends Polar Bear Plunge will be a cold one.
Here are some highlights from an article posted in The Capital this week.
Polar Bear Plunge kicks off with ‘Frigid Friday’
School teams to take first dip of 2010, followed by the main event on Saturday
By E.B. FURGURSON III, Staff Writer
Published 01/28/10
Brrrrrr. Mother Nature might define the term “polar” for thousands of Marylanders when they dive into frigid bay waters Saturday for the 14th annual Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge benefiting Special Olympics.
There’s so much enthusiasm, in fact, that it can’t be contained in just one day. Hence this year’s addition of Frigid Friday. The special plunge at noon tomorrow is limited to school teams signed up under a special Cool Schools program. In addition to raising money for Special Olympics, students can earn service learning hours for the plunge. As many as 3,000 students could participate.
“Cold bodies, warm hearts,” said Donna Taylor, who has taken the plunge every year since the event’s inception. “We poke fun and make jokes about being crazy, but this is really about the athletes. Once you have volunteered at the (Special Olympic) games and met those athletes, it has really become a labor of love. It is an incredible effort for people who really appreciate it.”
Over the past 13 years the event has grossed more than $13 million to support some 10,000 Special Olympic athletes in Maryland. The total pledged for this year’s event, also billed as Plungapalooza 2010, was $2,126,709.74.
The event works like this: Potential plungers must raise, or donate, at least $50 each. Many boost their contributions by forming teams and getting pledges from friends, family members and co-workers.
While most participants take the plunge once, a special breed called
Super Plungers dip into the bay’s waters once an hour, every hour, for 24 hours. Super Plungers raise $10,000 each.
This is Taylor’s third year as a Super Plunger. “It takes a special kind of crazy to be a Super Plunger,” she said with a chuckle.
She and fellow Super Plunger Pat Voelkel lead a team from Graul’s, the local grocer that has been a corporate sponsor of the event for several years.
The Graul’s team set a goal of $30,000 this year.
“We said go big or go home. I don’t know if we will make it, but we have huge support from our customers and vendors,” said Taylor, who has worked at the Cape St. Claire store for 39 years.
“Heck, we have people donating … they want to pay you just so they don’t have to do it,” she said.
Overall, the dozens of Super Plungers registered for this year aimed to raise $500,000, and will likely make the mark. As of Wednesday, their pledges totaled $462,000.
Over at Cantler’s Riverside Inn, the plunge team is anything but crabby.
“Some of the girls did it last year. They had so much fun we were inspired to kick it up a notch and do a team this year,” said Molly Butterfield, who is putting the final touches on her Team Cantler’s mascot costume. It’s a polar bear, of course. “There is a lot of team spirit here, and we will be well represented.”
Team captain Stephanie Fennell was one of those who plunged last year. “It is for such a good cause. We are trying to raise $2,000 this year.”
To add to the roughly $1,000 already pledged, Cantler’s is holding a Plunge Party tomorrow night.
“We’ll have some hors d’oeuvres, an auction and a raffle. And a good time,” Butterfield said.
The Plungapalooza will feature a host of happenings for plungers and spectators. The Rams Head Ice Lodge, for example, will showcase bands and beer in a heated ski lodge-like tent.
The huge festival tent will have a boardwalk theme with food vendors, sand castle building and more live music, and 98 Rock radio will broadcast remotely from the plunge all day long.
There is even a plunge pageant that will crown Miss Polar Bear and Little Miss Polar Bear, along with Miss Hypothermic Hon – perhaps the plunger who turns the most beautiful shade of blue.
Local celebrities and officials show up for the thrill of the chill, too. Gov. Martin O’Malley is expected to plunge. So are Baltimore Ravens players like quarterback Joe Flacco and offensive lineman Adam Terry. Rep. Frank Kratovil is expected as well.
They all join Old Man Winter, whose deep cold and flying flakes aren’t enough to keep people away from a good time for a good cause.
“We are die-hard and will be there regardless,” Butterfield said
