It won’t be plunging through an icy Rainy Lake but it’s sure to be plenty cold. The Voyageurs Lions Club is changing things up for what will be their first in-person plunge since before the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Rather than jumping through a hole in the ice on New Year’s Day as in past years, this year the event will see plungers running into Rainy Lake. The Chilly Dash and Splash will replace the annual Polar Plunge this year on Sunday Nov. 27. Organizer Bill Michl says one of the reasons for the change is the physical work required to clear the ice for the event.
“We have very few members left who can actually do physical work,” Michl said. “A lot of our members are in their 70s and 80s, a couple are in Rainycrest. The hole in the ice is a lot of physical work, getting the hole prepared and cleaning all that snow off and stuff like that. So we thought we’d just try and run in and see if that works just as well.”
The weather at this time of year also makes things complicated, Michl says.
“One day you’re in the 60s (farenheit) and the next day you’re in the 20s. We hope everything will hold up and that the ice doesn’t pick up before the 27th that we have to break.”
The Voyageur Lions Club raises funds that go towards helping people in the community in all kinds of different situations.
“We’ve paid for medical travel, we’ve paid for stuff like people that need special equipment or things like that. We’ve supported the hospital when they buy equipment,” Michl said. “We’ve done a lot of different things around town.”
Michl says they haven’t had a huge number of registrations yet but they are hoping to have close to 30. They would like all of the ‘dashers’ to raise at least $50 for the Lions Club.
For more information or to pick up pledge sheets, contact Bill Michl at 276-1334.
