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CHILLIN’ for Special Olympics at Mosquito
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
CORTLAND
Polar bears would have felt right at home with the group gathered in Mosquito Lake State Park on Saturday. The ground was covered with snow, the lake was a sheet of ice and the air temperature — about 16 degrees, was well below freezing.
That didn’t stop people from participating in the eighth annual Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics.
It’s for a good cause, said Amber Rummel of Salem. She took the plunge with friends Andrew Winters and McKenna Smolak.
“We usually do 5K [runs] together,” Rummel said. “And we decided to do this for the winter thing.”
A costume contest was part of the event, and the trio participated in that, as well. Winters, of Wellsville, was dressed as a cow, while Rummel and Smolak wore denim cut-off shorts, red tank tops and cowboy hats.
“He’s our cow, and we’re his milkmaids,” Rummel said.
After the plunge, they ran out of the water to get into dry clothes.
“It was so cold,” Smolak, of Youngstown, said. “But it wasn’t as bad as we thought. I am glad I did it.”
Rummel agreed.
“It was awesome; well worth it,” she said.
Jim Read of Mecca participated for the third time. He brought along a friend, Shauna Letchen, this year.
“The first year was really cold,” Read said.
It was warmer last year, he said, and there wasn’t ice on the lake.
This year, ice needed to be cut away to create a space for the plungers.
Letchen, of Johnston, shivered in her bikini top and shorts but looked forward to the plunge. And after doing it, she said she was glad she did.
The water was colder than expected, she said, but she’d do it again.
“Same thing, different year,” Read said. “It’s fun.”
Tents were provided as changing rooms, and emergency professionals were on stand-by.
About 140 people participated, said Paige Ludwig, marketing and development director for Special Olympics Ohio. She anticipates the event will raise $25,000.
“So it’s a great day,” she said. “Everybody’s come out, despite the cold temperatures.”
The Mosquito Lake plunge is the first of nine plunges to take place throughout the state.
“For the next two months, we’ll be going all around the state doing these with the hopes of raising about $450,000 total,” Ludwig said.
Adult participants must raise $75, and student participants $50. Incentives are given for raising additional funds, and the top individual and team fundraisers are given special recognition. A post-plunge party took place for participants.
Special Olympics Ohio provides year-round sports training and competition opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.