Polar Plunge Raises Funds for Special Olympics

The sun shone brightly, the blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds and people gathered by the beach, laughing, talking and gazing at the water.

It looked like any typical summer day, except on closer examination the white sand was actually snow, and the open water ended abruptly in a solid layer of ice extending to the far shore.

Waiting for her turn to jump into the frigid water in Lake Saint Louis as part of the eighth annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics last Saturday, Becky Kerley of said she didn’t know how cold the lake water was.

“And I don’t want to know,” she said. “I’m gonna guess in the 30s, if we’re lucky.”

Kerley was part of the IF Crew raising money in honor of 5-year-old Izzy Franklin, who has Down Syndrome and is also fighting leukemia. The 17 members of the IF Crew were dressed as gnomes, with blue tunics and tall, pointy red caps.

Dressing up was the norm among the 449 people who registered for the Plunge individually or as part of a team. The costumes featured a menagerie of animals, including monkeys, a giraffe, a tiger and several dinosaurs; Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mrs. Potato Head, Bo Peep, a Green Army Man and others from Toy Story; Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Count Von Count and some of their Sesame Street friends; plus Charlie Chaplin, Clark Kent (with the Superman uniform showing underneath the suit), and a bride and groom.

“We’re taking the plunge,” said bride Hillary Mundwiller of St. Louis, standing next to her husband Andrew Mundwiller, the groom.

Hillary’s long dress perfectly matched the snow on the ground and was set off by a pair of sneakers. Andrew wore a black tuxedo with flowers in the lapel and, since footwear was required for all plungers, he also had running shoes. The Mundwillers, who have been married three years, feel strongly about fund raising for Special Olympics.

“Missouri’s Special Olympics is probably one of the best programs in the country,” said Andrew Mundwiller, who is on the local Special Olympics board. “In order to keep the program competitive for all the athletes, we need events like this to make sure they have top-notch facilities, quality events, quality volunteers, (and) quality people involved.”

Organizers are thrilled with what the Polar Plunge is doing for Special Olympics.

“This is sort of our signature event,” said Matt Lauer, the St. Louis Metro Area Director for the Special Olympics. “There are a lot of different ways we raise money throughout the year, but this one is good for us because it not only helps us raise the funds we need to run the program, it brings attention to the program. It is a spectacle, because people are jumping into a nice cold lake on a cold day, after it’s snowed a couple more inches overnight. So it means a lot to us because we not only get to help our athletes, we get to spotlight our program as well.”

After a parade of participants, the Polar Plunge began at 1 p.m. Saturday with an air temperature of 33 degrees and a water temperature of 29.

“It’s painful,” veteran plunger Stephen Kerley of Winfield said of jumping into Lake Sainte Louise in February.“It’s like a bunch of needles hitting your body. It’s unreal, but I keep doing it.”

With police and firefighters standing by in case anyone needed help, participants used various techniques to enter the water. People charged in, doing a forward dive when they got to mid-thigh level. They strolled in hand-in-hand, sharing body heat until the last chilly moment. Some sloshed in, turned around and took the Nestea plunge, falling backwards into the water’s icy embrace. Others waded in slowly, arms wrapped around their chests, trying to deny the frosty numbness climbing up their legs.

No one was forced to plunge all the way in, but most wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I feel like I cheat if I don’t,” Stephen Kerley said.

Before the plunge, his sister Becky Kerley had said it was considered acceptable to just walk in about knee deep, but she ended up completely submerging anyway.

“I hurt,” she said, shivering and dripping wet after the plunge. “It burns.”

Her brother, also a member of the IF Crew, agreed.

“I think it might’ve been better to stay in,” he said. “The wind hits you on the way out and makes it 10 times worse.”

While their methods of entry varied, most participants had a similar exit strategy – sprint like mad and grab a towel, bathrobe or jacket to wrap up in.

“That was great,” Dale Franklin of St. Peters, a teammate of the Kerleys and also Izzy’s dad, said after plunging. Smiling, he said jumping in “wasn’t quite like needles. It was more like knives, and running through broken glass.”

Franklin, who said his daughter is “definitely my inspiration,” was impressed and grateful that so many people would participate in the Polar Plunge.

“It really reminds me that this community has heart,” he said. “And they’re a little crazy. But really they have a big heart.”

Becky Kerley, who said the IF Crew motto was “Go big or go gnome,” enjoyed the Plunge experience.

“It’s for a good cause and it’s a good time,” she said. “It’s the camaraderie. It’s feeling like you’re a part of something, even though it’s absolutely insane.”

The 2011 Polar Plunge had raised $108,000 as of Saturday, but that figure should get higher.

“That will continue to rise,” Lauer said. “The fund raising pages will stay open for a month, so we’ll still be getting donations in.”

To make a donation to Special Olympics, see their web site. The next big fund raising event offers participants the chance to rappel down the Lumiere Place hotel in October if they raise at least $1,000.

For more information, go to www.somo.org/edgestl.