Polar Plunge For Special Olympics A Little Warmer This Year, But Oh That Wind
(CBS) -- Every hour, on the hour, from now until 1 p.m. Saturday, 50 hearty souls are taking a plunge into Lake Michigan off Evanston's Clark Street beach in the annual law enforcement Super Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics.
A year ago, a backhoe had to work for hours to cut through an 18-inch ice sheet to provide a place for participants to plunge.
This year, there are a couple of nuggets of snow in the sand. But participant Bob McKimson, a Wood Ridge police officer, says it's little easier because the unseasonably warm temperatures.
The bad part: The blast of 60 mph wind and sand that greets him when he turns around to come ashore can stagger plungers.
"It feels like you're running up against a huge barrier," McKimson tells WBBM's Bob Roberts.
Those signed up had no idea what the weather would be when they agreed to participate, a decision made by most in November or December. Each of those taking the plunge had to raise at least $2,500 for the Special Olympics.
The Super Plunge alone is expected to raise $2 million, but is only the first of 23 staged by local law enforcement in different parts of the state over the next month.