Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Brooke Warren swims to shore after taking the first of three dives Wednesday. Warren usually participates with her brother, who is in the U.S. Coast Guard, but had to dive solo this year.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Warren Thunder takes his dive into the icy water Wednesday for the 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge. Thunder took the plunge for his ninth time this year.
It was frigid. According to daring divers, it was also fun.
Dozens of local residents braved the single-digit temperatures to participate in the 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day at the Lighthouse Pub and Restaurant.
An aerator helped to de-ice some of the water, but the bitter cold was still there as the brave plungers one by one — or sometimes several at a time — jumped off the boat dock and into the water.
For some, the plunge has become an annual tradition. Shawano resident Jesse Miller, though, participated for the first time in a winter feat celebrated in many communities across the United States.
“I wanted to have some good times, some fun and start the year fresh,” Miller said. “I’m a lot colder, but it was worth it.”
Warren Thunder, of Shawano, is a veteran of the plunge, with Wednesday’s jump being his ninth. It’s a family affair for Thunder, with his 11-year-old son being a six-year participant and other relatives also taking part Wednesday.
“It’s just something crazy to do at the beginning of the year,” Thunder said.
Nine-year-old Aiden Thunder, 9, Warren’s nephew, was initiated into the tradition this year.
“I just really wanted to jump,” Aiden Thunder said. “It was very cold.”
While most jumped in wearing bathing suits, Lucas Hacker, of Shawano, decided to wear a Santa suit as he took his first dive. Later, wearing just his shorts, he went back to jump with a couple of friends.
“We had an ugly sweater party, and I was Santa for that, so Santa wanted to jump in the water, as well,” Hacker said.
It was Hacker fifth time, though not consecutively, participating in the plunge. He said he missed a year, but he enjoys getting together with a bunch of people to do it.
Also, the money goes toward the Shawano County Humane Society, which Hacker has a connection with, having adopted a dog named Kevin.
Brooke Warren, of Shawano, has done the plunge for the last seven years. It has become a competition of sorts for Warren and her brother to see how many dives each sibling makes, but Warren’s brother had to miss this year’s plunge because he is in the U.S. Coast Guard and was unable to get the time off.
All things considered, this wasn’t Warren’s coldest plunge. She noted that one year she got frostbite on her feet that lasted for a couple of weeks.
“One year, we got to walk across the channel. It was completely frozen over,” Warren said. “There were people standing out on the channel watching.”
Jeff Stachowiak, owner of the Lighthouse, said $800 was raised Wednesday to benefit the Humane Society. He said this year was one of the coldest for the plunge since he started it in 2000.
“It was colder with the wind chill,” Stachowiak said.