Mike Wolanin | The Republic Jacob Hendricks reacts after cannonballing into a frigid pool of water during the Columbus Parks Foundation’s inaugural Plunge into Parks polar plunge fundraising event on 4th Street in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. Donations from the event will be used to build a $400,000 women’s locker room in the Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena.
Understandably, a band of hearty winter warriors hoped they could plunge into cold waters Saturday well before the temperature plunged — especially since the day dawned with snow in downtown Columbus.
They were on a frigid-but-splashy mission called the Columbus Park Foundation’s Plunge Into Parks, an inaugural fundraiser to generate $400,000 by June for a girls locker room at the local Hamilton Center Community Center and Ice Arena.
Let the record show that the thermometer stood at 34 degrees just before the first celebrity plunger, Jeff Goldman, stood on the edge of a large pool positioned in the west end of Fourth Street. As he stared down at roughly four feet of 50-degree water, a rallying cry echoed from a crowd of about 200 bundled and knit-capped onlookers.
“Cannonball!” a supporter shouted.
And there began the festivities of, well, ice, ice, baby. A host of men, women and yes, children, plopped and dropped squarely into the cause that began earlier with a $4,000 start. Some 45 minutes later, the tally rose along with the temperature to $9,200.
By the time the event finished nearly two hours later, a total of $10,700 was raised on a campaign just getting its feet wet, you might say. Organizers hope people continue to be chill about donations to cbusinparks.com/cpf-polar-plunge
“We’re really very happy about it, especially for a first-time event,” said Celeste Reynolds, Columbus Parks and Recreation’s project and resource development manager afterward. “We had huge community support.”
She added that the foundation is already committed to a second-year event to boost other, similar projects.
One of the originators of the event, Dr. Chris Bartels, a local dentist who regularly cold plunges for health while ignoring teeth-chattering temps, spoke briefly with each plunger to make sure they understood safety elements such as proper breathing when they hit the water. He left proper post-plunging expression to their own enthusiasm.
Youngster Jude Goldman climbed out of the pool with dripping swim trunks and one thought that he exclaimed loudly.
“That was insane,” he said.
It was easy enough to find others who humorously agreed with such a sentiment, including Mayor Mary Ferdon, who immediately laughed when asked if she were getting into the water.
“I have happily donated,” Ferdon said. “That is my support.”
A few minutes before the plunging began, the local music group Cottonpatch was energetically grooving their way through a hot bluegrass-style tune about muddy waters. Thankfully for organizers, that was only an artistic expression maybe 75 feet from the pristine pool. A half hour into the plunging, 106.1 The River radio station’s remote broadcast featured Foreigner’s pop hit, “Cold As Ice.”
Jacob Hendricks was the first plunger to go shirtless as he boldly stepped to the pool’s edge to loud cheers when he tossed aside his robe as if it were a nuisance. He regularly does cold-water plunging and mentioned that he was more than prepared for the sudden shock to his skin of chilly breezes and more-than-chilly water.
He added that he believes that the community is more than prepared to to meet the need for the finances for the female locker room effort.
“I don’t think there’s any way that we won’t be able to raise needed money,” Hendricks said.
Besides, he mentioned that cold plungers love a seemingly crazy challenge.
“When you’re doing this, you’re actually challenging that little voice inside your head that’s saying ‘No — don’t do it,’” he said. “You’re showing your body who’s boss.”
A photo gallery for the fundraiser can be viewed by visiting the following link: https://www.therepublic.com/2024/01/07/photo-gallery-an-icy-plunge/.
How to donate
To donate to the cause:
cbusinparks.com/cpf-polar-plunge
