POLAR BEAR PLUNGE SEWARD ALASKA 2011
If it was for a good cause, you bet!
Since 1986 people from all over have been jumping into the very, very, very cold waters of Resurrection Bay to raise money (and awareness) for the American Cancer Society.
This frigid tradition continues this weekend (Jan 21-23, 2011) in the same fashion. Although costumes are not mandatory they are prevalent. Perhaps those crazy philanthropic folks have the mistaken belief that that extra layer of fluff will help to shield them from the icy cold water. Nah, it may give them an extra .05 seconds before the water hits them though.
You do not have to jump to be involved though and there are plenty of other activities in town as well. There is everything from basketball to Wii bowling, a book sale, parade, quilt show, turkey (only frozen turkeys will be used), oyster slurping and Karaoke to mention a few.
There are discounts at the Alaska Sea Life Center for Alaska residents and military (20% discount) and the Center is free if you are wearing your Polar Bear Plunge tee shirt.
We have a very close friend that took the Polar Bear Plunge a couple years ago in memory of her mom that had recently died of cancer. She got together with a group of folks from work and jumped in full belly dancer attire. They had a blast and raised a bunch of money for cancer research.
When we spoke with Kirsten afterward, she explained that the water is so cold that it does something to your muscles. She said that it feels like you are trying to swim through loose Jell-O. Her breath was taken away because of the shock when she hit the cold water!
Even though Jacque was born in Alaska and Larry has been here for 20 years, we have still not joined in the fun of the Polar Bear Plunge. We have been in the lakes and rivers in the summer (still very cold but nothing like this). Maybe next year...but we might need some help gathering up the courage to do it though.
For more information on the Polar Bear Plunge in Seward Alaska, you can call Reach the Polar Bear Festival at ALASKA COMMUNICATIONS POLAR BEAR HOTLINES: (907)-980-9638 (907)-980-9632
For a schedule of events go to: http://directory.seward.com/events/details/polar-bear-jump-off-weekend
Jacque & Larry
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