With the sun shining and air temperatures reaching into the 50s, jumping into Lake Michigan for Saturday’s Polar Plunge was a starkly different experience from last year, when crews had to dig a pool out of chunks of ice covering the shore.
But, says Park Ridge Community Strategies Officer Ben Peterson, it was still, well, kind of chilly.
“The water’s still like 40 degrees,” he pointed out. “It’s like jumping into an ice bath. But thankfully, the air temperature was nice and the sun felt really good.”
Peterson was among a team of 18 representing the Park Ridge Police Department in the Special Olympics Illinois Polar Plunge at Clark Street Beach in Evanston. Joining him on the team were Police Chief Frank Kaminski; Deputy Police Chief Duane Mellema; Officers Robert Niemiec, Jim Novy, Quentin Richards and Mitchell Stephens; Police Explorer Gary Lynch; and Maine South High School Key Club members Allison Clements, Sydney Coffey, Maggie Gamble, Isabella Goldman, Rosa Guagliardo, Mary McManus, Lilly Miller, Meghan Smith, Lilly Trapp and Amanda Walbert.
The team raised just over $3,000 for Special Olympics Illinois, said Peterson, who this year took over the police department’s fundraising efforts from Officer Julie Genualdi, who moved back to regular patrol.
Other area teams participating in the plunge included the New Trier Powerlifting Club, Highland Park High School Breaks the Ice and Glenview Public Safety Dispatch Center.
The annual Polar Plunge is one of four events the Park Ridge Police Department takes part in as a fundraiser for Special Olympics. Other activities include the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a plane pull at O’Hare Airport and a climb to the top of local Dunkin’ Donuts shops.
Twitter: @Jen_Pioneer
