Nothing, if you're participating in the 5th annual Penguin Plunge in Westfield. It's an annual benefit to aid the Amelia Park Children's Museum, and to expose any locals ready for the looney bin. We got there just before the scheduled start at 1 o'clock, to find a substantial number of spectators crowding the Westfield Green...
...spectators of all stripes and persuasions.
It was a pretty festive atmosphere, with the emcee rousting up the eager crowd. Soon people were (attempting) to do the 'wave', and before long even a beach ball was bouncing above people's heads.
Some were a little caught up in the exitement and maybe tossed the ball with a little too much 'oomph', and it got stuck in a tree.
But, after being rescued with a few pokes from a long stick the ball then went on to survive another round or two, back and forth above the crowd. At last one over-zealous audience member mistakenly gave it a whack strong enough to pop it. The crowd erupted in unison with an "Aaaawwwwww!"
But the ball was quickly forgotten, and attention was almost immediately directed back to the stage. After a slightly late start, the participants were finally lining up, ready to take the plunge...
Each participant's name was announced along with their reasons for taking the plunge. Reasons ranged from 'helping the children's museum', to 'forgetting to take a shower'.
EMT's were on hand dressed in wet suits and sitting in the pool, ready to aid anyone who might have underestimated the cold or overestimated their bravado.
Diving into the water was prohibited, but that didn't stop everybody...
They just kept coming, lining up and plunging in.
The insanity of it all was confirmed when the mad one himself, the Joker, joined in the fun.
Everyone seemed to have their own different style of self abuse; Some eagerly cast themselves to the icy water...
...some gently waded in with reserve...
...some wisely had second thoughts entirely.
...or should I say 'cold feet'..?...(sorry).
But everyone emerged from the drink looking refreshed, if not shocked to their cores...
It's all for charity. And a little fun.
Several of the participants do this every year and you can tell who the veterans are; They're the ones standing in back, looking on quietly and sizing up the challenge with a wary eye and wisdom honed from years of 'plunging'...
They emerge from the back of the crowd. They stride up confidently. And they show the rookies how it's done.
The pros return for the challenge and the charity, year after year...
5 comments:
Tony, was that your Son in the next to the last Photo?
He wasn't with us on this trip...
And if he was, trust me, we'd *never* get him to jump into a pool of freezing water...!
I forgot that was happening yesterday, and just missed it. I walked down to the library (which is across the street) and saw it just breaking up. D'oh!
What a great event! I saw a few scenes on the TV news but I couldn't figure out if was a full-sized pool people were jumping into or what. Last year, some people jumped into Puffer's Pond here as part of a national effort to call attention to global warming. I wonder if that is happening again this year.
From what I hear, it's the first time they did it on the Westfield green, it had taken place at Lake Congamond previously...
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