Valley residents take the Mat-Su Plunge at Wasilla Lake Saturday

WASILLA — While most spectators turned out dressed in layers of winter gear, 104 participants in the 2014 Mat-Su Plunge came costumed to jump into the near-freezing water of Wasilla Lake.

So what would make so many Alaskans abandon reason and warmth to jump through a hole in the ice into the frozen lake?

This year it’s to help feed Valley kids and provide them with expanded opportunities to participate in organized sports.

Mat-Su Sertoma Club President Paula Nance said this year’s fundraiser at Wasilla Lake Resort raised about $25,000 and will benefit Food 4 Kids and Pop Warner Football this year.

Food 4 Kids, formerly the Children’s Lunchbox, prepared and delivered 65,000 meals and snacks to 300 Valley kids last year at places like the Wasilla Boys and Girls Club and the Sutton Library.

Nance said Pop Warner Football and the Mat-Su Sea Hawkers Booster Club will use the grant to outfit and field three additional teams that will provide opportunities for 75 more Valley kids to get out and play.

As each of the 77 teams made their way to the edge of the ice, Mat-Su Dive and Rescue teams were on hand ready to offer rescue help, if needed. Only one jumper put their skills to the test. When he began to struggle to swim to the ladder, team members moved in swiftly to provide support and see him safely and quickly to shore.

But perhaps the highlight of the 20-degree day with lightly falling snow was an old-timer who surprised the crowd when he showed up in hip-waders. Talk among observers favored the idea that the boots would fill with water and sink the man when he jumped.

Instead, his float coat filled with air and he paddled on his back to the edge of the ice, pulled out two ice picks on a string, pulled himself up onto the ice and kicked one leg into the air in celebration.

He’s not on the annual list of prizewinners for best costume, but if the event decides to add a category for flair, here’s your winner.

Winners in the annual costume contest were: Kelly Larson, as a king salmon, Best Women’s Costume; Warren Foster, as a character from “Moose the Movie,” Best Men’s Costume; and a couple dressed as a bride and groom won Best Team Costume.

Top fundraisers this year were Wasilla Lion’s Club member Phyllis Beer, nearly 73 — who raised almost $1,600 for the event and is the oldest jumper in the event’s history — and the top team was MEA, with about $2,900.

Nance said thanks is due the nearly 40 sponsors from the Valley business community that support the event.

Special thanks is due a handful of businesses that have sponsored the event for the past five years: Alaska USA, Tailgaters, IPS Alaska, Mudbusters Car Wash, Wasilla Physical Therapy, Elements 47, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and Denali Destroyers Roller Derby Team.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.