I am not sure about your neck of the woods but in mine January is pretty damn cold time of year (as I am writing this the current temp is -8 with a windchill/feels like temp of -26 below. Yeah) This means it's cold old enough to stand, snowmobile and even drive a car on the frozen lakes in the neighborhood. For the last 15 years on the Saturday after New Years people have been cutting a huge hole in one of said frozen lakes and folks jumping in all for a good cause! Note I am NOT one of those crazy people, I don't mind winter but jumping into cold ass water... hell no! I am happy to go drink beer and cheer everyone on in support however! Check out the awesome Sprecher Brewing Beer Rescue Ambulance that came out for the day too!
Even one of my sisters and her two littles came out to watch!
Held at Bonnie's Lakeside in Three Lakes, Wisconsin this year there was over 100 jumpers dressed in lots of wild costumes and at a new location they raised over $50,000 for Angel On My Shoulder a fantastic local organization that helps those with and affected by cancer, especially children. One of the biggest things Angel does is puts on camps for kids who's family members have been affected by cancer and allow them time away from the situation to just be a kid again. Having been one of these kids myself (my father passed way from pancreatic cancer when I was 10 years old and my sisters 7, 7 and 5) I always think this would have been great had it been around when we were kids. Please go to their website to learn more, it really is a great cause!
When I was first out of college I helped at some of their first jumps and I am happy to say the brewery I work for now helped get involve this year too which means I will get to be a part of it going forward in the years to come. The weeks leading up to the plunge even had a 30 hour pledge-a-thon put on by the local radio station WRJO where I spoke on-air and even had several cases of gourmet soda donated away to people making some of the larger pledges toward the end of the drive. It was a blast!
The jumpers had it pretty good this year in terms of conditions, little wind and a balmy 29 degrees... it was the perfect day (with some liquid courage) to jump into a frozen lake. As you can see from the pictures it was an amazing turn out! So I have to ask... would you do something like this for a good cause??!
Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo
Okay... well, this is like a lot crazier than the plunge I participated in a few years ago. For one, we just ran into the water (which was still freakin' cold as hell, and we did it in bathing suits, but we weren't ever really fully submerged). Also, the event took place in New York, which is cold as all get out in the winter, but I imagine you have it colder ;)
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I think this is a wonderful cause and it doesn't matter if you jump or not--being there and showing your support, donating, raising awareness--all of these things are just as important!
Hope you had a very happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too!! I know lots of people who do what you did on New Years in Milwaukee when they run in and out of Lake Michigan. The hole in the frozen lake thing tends to take it to another level for sure ;-)
DeleteThis looks like so much fun but also really darn cold! I don't know if I had the guts to really jump into the water! I love that it's for a good cause, guess that also helps to convince one to just do it!
ReplyDeleteIt really is a fun event, especially seeing everyone get dressed up for it! I was cold just watching them, I don't know how I could have stripped out of my coat and boats to do it!
DeleteHey there! Your blog is so much fun. Good thing those jumps are for a good cause... I feel cold just looking at the photos! haha
ReplyDeleteAwh thanks Ashley! I know.. I am just way to chicken to do it myself!
DeleteOMG this looks too much fun...and uhhhh that looks super cold...haha!
ReplyDeleteMy boss did this last year and told me so forgot to breathe and nearly passed out. This looks way too cold for me!
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