SPECTRUM: A note from the alter ego Frontiers Mann

Hello Frontiersman readers,

My name is Jacob Mann and I am a reporter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. The Mat-Su Polar Plunge is one of the most exciting fundraising events in our community. It rallies many people together under the common goal of raising funds for a great cause: supporting local charities with a focus on the hearing health in the community.

If you are reading this, please help me raise $200 for the cause by making a monetary donation. When you give some of your hard earned money know that it truly will help many people in your community. You have many neighbors near and far and your donation will help improve their lives in a variety of ways. One pertinent example can be drawn from this year. Colony High School student Noah White was recently awarded a 2018 Summer Camp scholarship from the Mat-Su Sertoma Club, which will cover the cost of the camp session and airfare.

White was born with normal hearing but he began to lose his hearing after his first birthday. When he was 3 years old, he was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. He is deaf at high frequencies but has ”almost normal hearing” at low frequencies.

Noah wrote an essay “What is important about your identity as a deaf or hard of hearing person in a diverse world?” He expressed a desire to usher in more understanding to those around him who are not hearing impaired. According to the Mat-Su Sertoma Club’s congratulatory post to White, ”through a lack of understanding, people are fearful and only through self-acceptance he has been able overcome challenges he has faced.”

Now this is a great example. A local high school student with hearing challenges made it his mission to help everyone around him, hearing impaired and otherwise by raising awareness through empathy and understanding. Money raised by the Plunge helped make his scholarship possible. White’s story is just one of many affected by this ongoing narrative of a community coming together to help their own.

Countless colorful characters campaign into the freezing waters- from Bat-Man to Princess Elsa. Some people even make their own costumes. Although costumes aren’t required, they’ve become a staple of the Mat-Su Plunge experience. The audience loves seeing what people come up with and dressing up tends to make things more fun. On that train of thought, I will show up to Finger Lake garbed in my alter ego: the Frontiers Mann. The Frontiers Mann wears an all green bodysuit and fedora. The Mat-Su Valley is his home so he is fired up to support it with his pledge and his plunge.

I will be writing about my Polar Plunge experience, chronicling my journey of meeting fellow plungers, talking to the folks at Mat-Su Sertoma, the impact on the community, and my icy plunge into Finger Lake. This will be my first time. I have raised $25 of my $200 goal. Please help me make a difference in our community as the Frontiers Mann.

Thank you for reading this. If you have any questions or want to talk, please contact me at 907-715-8717 or at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com