WINTHROP — After missing out in taking part in last year’s Ice Out Plunge, Caitlyn Henry was ready for it this year, but the 12-year-old wasn’t going to leap into the cold water of Maranacook Lake, in a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, by herself.
She was taking her family down with her, including cousins, an uncle and her father. She said when she asked them to join her, they all said yes.
“I wasn’t really given a choice,” her father, Richard Henry, of Winthrop, said, laughing. “But it’s for a good cause.”
Caitlyn’s mother, Rebecca, helped with the effort, too; but when Caitlyn came to her about it, she was quick to offer to help in a way different from jumping into frigid water in early April. She made the team shirts, bearing their team name, The Polar Pops. Together, the family team raised $600.
The event, organized by the Maine Law Enforcement Torch Run, a group that raises money for the Special Olympics, raised more than $16,000 this year, according to Ron Gastia, director of the torch run and a resident of Bangor, where he retired as police chief in 2012.
Gastia himself took the plunge four times, jumping in the first time wearing a formal suit and tie, and holding the torch run group’s torch.
Gastia leaped off the temporary dock installed for the event at the town beach four times because, in raising funds on his Facebook page, he promised he’d jump in an additional time for every $150 raised above his initial goal of $1,000. He raised $1,571, and counting, with money still coming in.
“I wasn’t expecting to have to do it four times, but I had to keep my word,” he said, shivering and dripping wet after his final plunge.
In the event’s first two years, the lake was still covered in ice, so holes had to be cut through it so participants could take a brief dip into the water.
This year the ice was nowhere in sight, having already left the lake. Participants, however, said the water didn’t seem any warmer than in years past.
Wardens were in the water for the duration of the event, to rescue anyone who needed help. Everyone appeared to make it out of the water safely, if cold.
Jan Tricarico, of Winthrop, has participated all three years, jumping in once the first year, twice last year and three times Saturday. She said she loved it. She said she loves the cold, so the event is a great fit.
Less enthusiastic about the cold water was Kaitlyn Roy, of Lewiston, one of Tricarico’s teammates on the Anvil Anchors team, so named because Tricarico is a blacksmith.
Roy said her roommate asked her to join the team, so she agreed to take part.
“It hurts, that first second” you hit the cold water, she said. “Then you realize what you’ve done. And you think, ‘I’ve made a mistake.'”
Roy said she would do it again, however.
The Anvil Anchors raised $935.
A fully costumed, masked and caped Batman — John Lingley — and red T-shirt and shiny gold boots-wearing Wonder Woman — Marjorie Earl — both of Bangor, also took the plunge.
Earl said the water was cold, but that she hoped to do it again next year.
“It’s all about the kids, for Special Olympics. We want to make a very good day for them,” she said.
The American Legion donated its hall for the event and free food was provided by the legion’s auxiliary members and The Red Barn restaurant.
The top fund-raising team of the day was Team Kelsey, a team of more than a dozen members who together raised $3,600. Members wore shirts with “Team Kelsey” on the front and “Bloom Salon” on the back, and #justsmile on the sleeve. Team members said their team name was in honor of the late Kelsey Stoneton, who was just 17 when she died in 2014 after arteries in her lungs became blocked.
Charle Clark, organizer of the event, a longtime Winthrop Police Department employee and a member of the Special Olympics board of directors, said the event raised $18,000 in its first year and $28,000 last year.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
Twitter: @kedwardskj
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