Temperature 29 as 44 plunge into Lake Caroline
By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
In skimpy, outlandish costumes, 44 "Polar Bears" lined up along Lake Caroline's Little Beach at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, the fifth – and coldest Polar Bear Plunge ever.
To help the needy pay heating bills and get free food at Glory Outreach, they started their countdown. "Ten! Nine! Eight..."
Earlier, Mike Trent and Susan Hafey had broken the three-eights-inch-thick ice, and Lance Penney, Mike Trent, Suzi Foor, Cliff Spence, Molly Gee and Ron Burriss shoveled crusty snow off the sand.
Now as the Polar Bears braced themselves for their freezing dip, a knee-knocking 29-degree wind whistled off the lake, and the Ladysmith Volunteer Rescue Squad's ambulance stood by at the ready.
"Three, two, one... Zero!"
Most were in and out quick, their faces stunned with the shock of the cold, their skin dripping and now a bright red.
"It's the first 10 seconds that get to ya," said Susan Hafey, president of the Caroline Bar. "After that you go numb." In a purple sequined bathing cap and Titanic outfit, she lingered in the frigid lake, laying back and crunching through the ice.
On the beach Brenda James got her husband Rev. Kevin James wrapped him up in towels and into their car fast. "It was fun," the pastor of Salem Baptist said later. "It wasn't as cold as I expected." Praying earlier for a heat wave, he'd gotten a personal one.
Rev. Charles Tillapaugh cut his chin on the ice, but didn't require the EMTs. "I thought it was wonderful!" he said of the turnout and fundraising effort that brought in $12,575.37 by Monday, with more coming.
The biggest fundraiser was Craig Kolhagen (rock-n-roll star Slash) with $700, while a host of others brought in more than $500, including Danny Carter (a hot dog), Ken Grier (Captain Underpants), Susan Hafey (Titanic), Kathy Johnson (in Hawaiian dress), Superintendent Dr. Greg Killough (as himself), Donna Norton, Chris Penney, Chandler Thomas and Rev. Tillapaugh (in his birthday suit).
Other Polar Bears included Lewis and Clark teacher Jennifer Covington, Carmel Christian Academy principal Brent Miller, Union Bank & Trust assistant vice president Donna Norton, and Pizazz Hair Salon owner Chris Penney.
St. Mary's swishing goose-bumped hulu dancers won the costume contest.
Yes, the frozen lake was very, very cold, acknowledged Rev. Tillapaugh.
"That was the real deal."