©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Sharks and Titans Populate Lake Storey for Polar Plunge |
There are clearly all kinds of people willing to do whatever it takes to raise a little money for the area's Special Olympics athletes beyond just spending a few seconds in the icy waters of Lake Storey.
Most of the two-hundred runners just donned shirts and shorts to take the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge Sunday. But some dressed up. Some dressed in drag. One was dressed in what we think was a penguin costume. Some wore high school wrestling singlets.
And then there was Alan Wheeler of Galesburg.
"I'm going as a Florida tourist who had inadvertently got bit by a radioactive shark, and cruises the beaches late at night for happy hours and conga lines," Wheeler said.
Wheeler plunged with a team from Galesburg Broadcasting Company station "The Laser", and says he's taken part in similar plunges in the past, and felt the cause was worth a little cold.
So did Monmouth-Roseville High School Assistant Principal Ken McCance, who tells WGIL it started out as a joke among him, special ed teacher, Chad McKenna, and some students, but grew into something they had to do.
"I work a lot with Mr. McKenna and the Special Ed kids, and a lot of them are going to the Special Olympics," McKenna said. "When they brought it up to me they were going to put a team together, I said 'hey, we gotta do this.' It was fun."
McCance and Wheeler both say it wasn't so bad jumping into the water. Some plungers remarked how numb some of their extremities were. But the numbness was likely later replaced with warm hearts, upon knowing that almost $30,000 was raised this year -- a new record for the local plunge.
For results and photos from the Polar Plunge, CLICK HERE. |
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| 03 01 10 by Newsroom |
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