How to help
What: Polar Plunge: Freezin' for a Reason, fundraiser for the Special Olympics
Where: Beach at Caesar Creek Lake, 8570 E. Ohio 73, Massie Twp.
When: Register from 10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday; plunge at 1:30 p.m.; post-plunge party from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at Roosters, 257 W. Central Ave., Springboro
Cost: Pledge at least $50 for students; $75 for adults
More info: contact Paige Ludwig at (614) 239-7050 or palsooh@aol.com.
MASSIE TWP. — Ordinarily, police officers would discourage anyone from plunging into icy Caesar Creek Lake in January, but not Ben Dunaway.
The Warren County Sheriff’s deputy is leading the 2011 Polar Plunge: Freezin’ for a Reason — a local fundraiser for the Special Olympics.
Teams and individuals are already lining up to support the cause and take the plunge into Caesar Creek Lake on Saturday The event includes a costume contest and a post plunge party at Roosters, 257 W. Central Ave., Springboro.
The event will likely attract male “polar bears” in bikinis, kilts and Elvis get-ups, said Dunaway, 66, who in the winter of 2009 jumped into Lake Erie for the cause.
“Whatever you do, bring some old gym shoes. It usually gets a little muddy,” he said.
This is the first time the event will be at Caesar Creek, one of 11 sites statewide for the polar plunge-fundraisers. The goal is to raise $10,000 at the Caesar Creek event, and the statewide goal is $320,000, said Paige Ludwig, marketing and development director of Special Olympics Ohio.
The money is used to support the 23,000 athletes in Ohio who train and compete year round, said Ludwig, who has taken the plunge before.
About the Author