FREEZIN' FOR A REASON

MAT-SU — Some view the spectacle as an outpouring of largesse while others say it’s an exercise in insanity. For the dozens who filed around Finger Lake Saturday to watch as more than two dozen locals jumped, dove and belly-flopped into the 32-degree water, the fifth annual Valley Polar Plunge represented both perspectives.

With plungers raising close to $10,000 this year — about $50,000 over the event’s five years — organizer Marty Metiva said the annual baptism into the icy Alaska water is a fun winter event that’s become a favorite with spectators and participants.

“Our catch phrase is ‘freezin’ for a reason,’ and there’s definitely a reason to be freezing,” he said. “I’ve jumped every year, and every year I think the same thing: ‘I must be crazy.’”

That was the lighthearted sentiment Saturday from those looking on as 25 courageous enough — or deranged enough — leaped, jumped and, in one case, cannonballed into a hole cut in the freezing lake.

What would it take for Michael Wind of Wasilla to jump?

“Got a million bucks?” he said. “Oh yeah, definitely, they’re nuts. They’ve gotta be nuts.”

That’s an opinion shared by Beth French shortly after she took the plunge dressed only in a bikini.

“I’m totally nuts, that’s got to be why,” she said, adding it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Although she tried to prepare herself mentally for the shock of immersing herself in the frigid lake, French admitted she underestimated just how cold 32-degree water is.

“It was freaking cold, that’s all I can say,” she said. “Let me put it to you this way — I’m glad I’m not a man.”

Although the initial contact with the water can be a shock to the system, jumpers said it was a stiff, cold wind that made getting out of the water the worst part of the plunge.

“Yes, that wind was the worst,” said Jillyan Webb, the new director at the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce. Making the plunge was one of her first duties as the new chamber head.

“I was dreaming about being in Hawaii and jumping in the ocean,” Webb said about how she managed to make the plunge. “You have to find your happy place.”

Marci Bentti was all smiles and in her happy place prior to the jump as the event’s top fund-raiser. Bentti brought in $3,200, which will be pooled with the other funds raised and distributed to various local entities at a later date. A member of the United Way Board of Directors and employed at Mat Valley Federal Credit Union, Bentti said she returned the day before from a vacation to Mexico. While in the warmer climate, she said she jumped into the water as preparation for Saturday’s icy bath.

Although this year’s event is a first for Bentti, she remembers the last time she found herself immersed in frigid water. She was in eighth grade and fell into water while visiting the Matanuska Glacier. Following her jump into Finger Lake, Bentti admitted lounging in the warm waters of Mexico wasn’t comparable.

“Well, no, not quite the same,” she said. “I didn’t want out of the water in Mexico as I did here.”

Watching her mother Angela Weisenberger make Polar Plunge, 8-year-old Alex said she was “kinda freaked out” and wasn’t sure until the moment of truth her mother would actually jump.

“It was freaking cold,” Angela Weisenberger said, adding the trick is to not think about it beforehand. “I was just thinking, ‘do it, do it.’ There’s no other way to do it than to do it fast.”

When asked what her first thoughts were in hitting the water, she replied, “you can’t print that in the newspaper.”

While those making the plunge quickly ran back into the warm embrace of a blanket and some hot chocolate, the event’s emcee, Palmer Elks Club Exalted Ruler Dave Alvarez, summed up the feelings of many watching the plungers.

“I’m for anybody who can jump in this water,” he said, “as long as it’s not me.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.