Dozens of local residents braved below freezing temperatures to participate in the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day at the Lighthouse Pub and Restaurant.
More than 30 signed up to take the ice cold dip.
“One year we had 80,” Lighthouse owner Jeff Stachowiak said. “That was the coldest year, when we had the most people. Must have been more of a challenge then.”
Stachowiak took the plunge himself seven times, but stopped doing it.
“I’m retired from doing that, unless we get a good challenge,” he said.
Several on hand Friday have made the jump an annual tradition of their own.
“We’ve been doing it every year for eight or nine years now,” J.R. Thunder said. “Our kids have been jumping for five, six years now. My sisters do it. It’s become a family thing for New Year’s Day.”
This year, J.R. and his brother Jacob donned top hats and tuxedos for the jump.
“Just to keep it interesting; have fun with it,” J.R. said.
The event benefits the Shawano County Humane Society, which is one of the reasons Jacob participates.
“We love the animals,” he said.
Then there’s the exhilaration of the plunge itself.
“It’s a rush to wake you up in the morning; especially after New Year’s Eve,” Jacob said.
He admits, however, that wasn’t his reaction when he first jumped seven years ago.
“I thought, ‘I’m never doing this again. I must be crazy,’” he said.
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