Would I dare to call the Jacksonport Polar Bears 23rd Annual Plunge into Lake Michigan one of Door County Style’s “Quiet Sports?” The screams were bloodcurdling as the bares hit the water and then struggled to overcome the shock and awe – not to mention the ice floes and crumbling shoreline – with many resorting to blubbering gibberish, asking themselves, “Why oh why do I do this each year?”
Nathan Phelps reporting for The Green Bay Press Gazette quotes two bears including Chris Huettl of Seymour who says, “It’s a baptism of manhood,” as his buddy Scott Moe adds,”We’re going to lose our manhood, Chris.”
Cameron Clark of Fox News Green Bay covered it, with nationwide distribution. Here’s a link to that story with a broadcast video as featured on Albuquerque, New Mexico’s affiliate station KRQE.
My favorite coverage so far is a set of still shots set to music in a slideshow by Advocate photographer Christine Nesheim…
Your own Door County Style reporter was there, camera in hand, courage-to-swim left behind – but, I got lots of angel-points for bringing along my usual cooler full of hot water as you will see in the clip below, saving several sets of painfully chilled toes… Here’s the story as I shot it. Enjoy and Happy 2009!
Oh… and of course no party is complete without a naked flasher running through that nice YouTube family video… tsk! tsk! Who was that bear-assed lad? Watch closely – and be sure to enter your comments below.
