By TAYLOR BROWN
Senior Reporter
[email protected]
I have had a lot of firsts as a journalist.
Let’s go back almost a decade, and I guess it started in college as a freshman at Cal U in my first journalism class.
I was given an assignment to write about something that I had never done before, so I got my lip pierced and had my first story published in the Cal Times.
Usually as a reporter I am a silent observer. I do my research, vet my sources and get help from others when writing my stories.
Sometimes though, you have to be a little more hands on.
Yesterday, along with a handful of other brave, warm-hearted people, I ran into the Monongahela River in Glassport for a good cause.
In it’s fifth year, the Glassport American Legion’s Polar Bear Plunge raises money to benefit Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, a Florida-based nonprofit that trains service dogs for veterans and people with disabilities.
Instead of covering the event as I typically would, talking to the people who organize, participate and observe, I decided to rush into the water with them.
After deciding to participate, I spent the weekend leading up to the plunge asking organizer Lisa Brinkman a handful of questions as they came to me.
What do I bring?
What do I wear?
What should I expect?
She said, making sure to remind me that no questions are stupid questions, that some people wear bating suits, others wear shorts and T-shirts.
She reminded me to bring a towel.
I made a note of her tips.
Before the ball dropped on New Years Eve, I had a bag packed and ready to go for the plunge. Extra socks, a second pair of shoes, a sweater and a towel.
I decided, despite recommendations, that I was going to wear leggings and a cropped long sleeve shirt.
I later learned this was a mistake because leggings, like putting on jeans after getting out a shower, would be hard to change out of.
When I pulled up to the intersection of Harrison Street and Monongahela Avenue, pallets were already burning as a handful of people stood around the fire with their drink of choice in hand.
Some people were bundled up, and others, like Sam Gouker and his crew, were in shorts and T-shirts, geared up and ready to go.
Everyone I met was friendly, and for most of them, it wasn’t their first time.
Sam, his wife Bonnie, and his daughter, Amber, are frequent flyers.
They have participated every year, and keep coming back.
Sometimes, they even take a second or third dip for good measure.
Sam, wearing a cowboy hat and American flag shorts, snuck away just a few minutes before go time to have his daughter, Amber, clean him up a bit.
I did not know what this meant at first, but learned after that every year he has a design pained or shaved onto his chest.
This year, it was the Superman logo and everyone spent the afternoon calling him “Super Sam.”
Slowly but surely more people started to show up.
Some were bundled up in winter gear to help keep warm on a snowy New Year’s Day, others casually walked down in swimming trunks with a towel wrapped around them.
No matter how many people I spoke to beforehand, there wasn’t much advice to give when it comes to jumping into a river in January.
You kind of just go for it, and so, that’s what I did.
As the minutes passed by, people started to make their way from the fire down a gravel path to the river bank, which was mostly sanded and already raked and cleared of debris.
About 20 people stood along the bank as a prayer was offered.
Then, all of a sudden, the sound of a horn blared the through the air and everyone started running.
I took a second to look around before realizing I was soon to be left behind and I sprinted forward.
When my feet hit the waters edge, it was an almost instant feeling of deep regret.
But because of the momentum I had taking off, the energy all around me and determination to not back out, the next thing I know I’m knee deep in the water and already shivering.
One foot in front of the other, I eventually got out far enough that the water touched my shoulders and I dunked down to my neck before immediately turning around to find my footing racing back to the shore.
Spectators cheered.
Participants, drenched, hugged and high fived their nearest neighbor.
I scurried back to dry land to grab a towel and change into dry clothes.
I ran up the hill from the river, without saying much of a word until I found my bag to change.
That’s when I realized, in a tent with a few kind women who did not mind me stripping down next to them, that I had not packed appropriately.
Not only did I not bring a change of pants, but the leggings I wore into the water seemed to be glued to my skin.
I changed my socks, put on a new pair of boots, a sweater that was too tight and a scarf.
I brought no gloves, or a plastic bag to put my wet clothes inside.
These are simply lessons learned.
It’s hard to complain or be grumpy when you are surrounded by so many people, young and old, who are in the same boat, shivering, smiling and laughing.
By the time I changed into the dry clothes I had brought with me, and walked out of the heated tent, most of the crowd was gone.
Others who were still mingled around the fire were ready for a second dip or getting ready to head to the American Legion for food and drinks.
Anyone who say me run in next to them, or watching from the bank, made sure to approach me.
My new friends each asked how it went, and it’s a bit difficult to describe because it all happened so quickly.
You’re in, you’re out, you’re freezing, then it’s over and seems like a blur.
Shivering, cold, a bit soggy and ready for a drink, people hugged me, thanked me for coming and warmly told me I was now “part of the club.”
It’s a pretty cool club to belong to.
While I admittedly was not part of the “misfit plunge” as it was referenced, those who take a second or third chilly dip, I won’t hesitate to do it again.
I don’t make New Years resolutions, mostly because I never stick to them, but I can honestly say that taking the plunge in Glassport with so many wonderful, funny, charismatic, caring people is now a New Year’s day tradition I will look forward to.
Participants in the annual Glassport American Legion Polar Plunge posed for a photo on the “beach” by the Monongahela River in Glassport. In it’s fifth year, the Glassport American Legion’s Polar Bear Plunge raises money to benefit Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs