 "Photo:")
Risking hypothermia in the name of charity, 10,000 people braved the cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay for the 12th annual Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge Saturday, Jan. 26.
Several Towson University students pulled on their bathing suits and participated in the event that raised over $3 million for the Special Olympics Maryland.
"We wanted to do the plunge because our president had plunged before and there had been so much support and advertising surrounding around the event. It was a great event to start the new semester, and our fraternity loves doing crazy things," Laura Pleines, executive vice president of Alpha Phi Omega, said.
Pleines' seven-person group raised a little more than $300 for the event and took their turn jumping into the near-freezing water at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis at noon.
"My family thought I was crazy and I just kept telling them I wasn't. My aunt was up in the air [about whether] to donate because of how she felt about the fact you could get hypothermia and how unsafe this event could be," Pleines said. "I was actually excited running down the beach because there were thousands on that beach, so I really didn't feel like I was doing something that was so crazy."
Thousands of participants and spectators attended the Plunge. To accommodate the vast crowd in attendance it was announced on site that an additional plunge would be added to the day's itinerary at 1 p.m. in addition to noon and 3 p.m.
Pleines said her fraternity would assist with local Special Olympics events, including the Special Olympics set to take place at Towson this summer. She said they were recruited after a staff member at the event recognized their Towson University apparel.
She hopes next year to have a more official team and considered this year's outing as a trial run for the future.
Lambda Chi Alpha, another Greek Life organization from Towson, also took part in the event, raising a total of $3,200.
Before running into the water, Jerry Housand, president of Lambda Chi Alpha said he was thinking to himself, "you're an idiot, but it's go time."
Upon exiting the water and running back to his tailgate location for a dry set of clothing, Housand remained upbeat, despite shivering.
"We are a bunch of guys who like to have fun. You put philanthropy and fun together you got one big party," he said. "It was definitely bigger and better this year. All the plungers broke a Guinness world record by having the most plungers and donations in the entire world. Glad to be a part of that."
Though the plunge was the focal point of the sunny winter day, spectators and plungers enjoyed outlandishly costumed participants, former and current Baltimore Raven's players, Gov. Martin O'Malley, and local celebrities like 98 Rock morning show hosts, Mickey Cucchiella, Amelia Ryerse and Josh Spiegel, who broke the second Guinness record of the day.
Between noon and 1 p.m., Spiegel set out to break the world record for most hugs in an hour, which he accomplished with 1,750.
The 2008 MSP Polar Bear Plunge exceeded the previous year's record by more than $800,000 dollars according to Kelley Wallace Schniedwind, a spokeswoman for Maryland Special Olympics.
The morning of the event, the numbers were even to last year's event, until Maryland Mega Millions lottery winner, Elwood "Bunky" Bartlett donated an extra $800,000 in addition to the $200,000 he had already donated.
Schniedwind said Bartlett wanted to guarantee that the event would reach its goal of $3 million.
To honor Bartlett for his extreme donation, the main stage area was named Bunky's Beach Party, after his nickname.
This year's event raised nearly half of what has been donated over the course of its 11-year run.
This year's theme was "Be the Bear" however, some attendees took it upon themselves to go a little further than that, dawning head-turning costumes, as the unofficial tradition of the Polar Bear Plunge.
"The ridiculous clothing makes the event. Baltimore people love to dress up. I believe I saw two Diana Rosses, a 60-year-old man in a diaper, and one of our guys dressed up as a half-naked Santa Claus," Housand said.
Pleines shared in Housand's view of the day's characters.
"On our shuttle ride, there was a guy dressed up as a cow. We saw some guy dressed as a baby and even acting like one…. Our plan next year is to dress like them or at least wear bikinis…I think next year we will be more prepared for this madness," she said.
RSS Feeds
Be the first to comment on this article!