Every February since 2003, people wearing skimpy swimsuits, skintight athletic wear, or crazy costumes all have jumped into a Tri-State lake on the same day. Sometimes, before they plunged into the frigid water, ice needed to be broken. Firefighters in protective temperature suits floated in the water, and an EMT sat nearby in case the icy water did more to divers than turn their skin blue.
There is a reason for the freezin’: to raise money for Southwest Indiana’s Special Olympics. The May 12 event at Central High School is the culmination of year-round sports training for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The Evansville athletes are part of 11,000 statewide participants, but before they can compete, the community plunges.
Last year, 120 participants plopped into Scales Lake in Boonville, Ind., for the Polar Plunge. Each person had raised $75 from sponsors. Among the costumed-clad plungers were Newburgh, Ind., firefighters dressed in grass skirts and coconut bras, and seven men, donning dwarf costumes, carried Snow White into the shallow waters. Organizers of the Feb. 18 icy dip, now in its 10th year, hope 170 plungers will take to the lake. “I had worked with individuals with intellectual disabilities,” says Kelly Padgett. “I fell in love with them.” That’s reason enough for Padgett, the media coordinator and sponsor recruitment manager for the Area 10 Special Olympics Committee. Need more incentive? After plungers heat up, they celebrate at the After Splash Bash filled with food and music.
