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Cold feet and a wet KISS at 6th Annual Polar Plunge From: mlive.com by Liz Cobbs Wearing a black bow tie and a small white carnation in the buttonhole of his black suit coat, a shirtless Kip Smith turned to his fiancee, Jamie Cox, dressed in white, and kissed her. Then, Smith and Cox, accompanied by maid of honor Chris Carpenter, took the plunge, not into marriage, but into the near-freezing water of Belleville Lake. The three friends joined 20 others taking turns jumping off a dock behind the Moose Lodge and into the 34-degree water before emerging somewhat dazed to the cheers of spectators. The plungers did it all for the Sixth Annual Polar Plunge fund-raiser for Special Olympics Michigan. The Polar Plunge supports year-round sports training and athletic competition for 12,400 children and adults with intellectual disabilities who participate in Special Olympics Michigan. The event is coordinated by the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a group of police officers and corrections workers committed to raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics Michigan. Saturday's event raised $10,836, said Heather Hutchins, public relations coordinator for Special Olympics Michigan. Last year, nearly $10,000 was raised, she said. "The Polar Plunge is continuing to grow and we hope to make it bigger and better next year and get more participants willing to jump," Hutchins said. Belleville is one of five sites holding Polar Plunges. Members of the Van Buren Township Public Safety Department's Undercover Search and Rescue Team helped plungers to another dock a few feet away. Besides the plunge, the event is known for its zany costume contest. Jumpers compete for the Traveling Golden Plunger Award, an honor earned by the person or group with the most interesting costume or jump into the water. This year's first-place winners were David Katz of Livonia and Erik Isele of Novi, both parole officers at a Michigan Department of Corrections office in Detroit. They showed up dressed as members of the rock band, KISS. With black-and-white painted faces, Katz dressed as guitarist and vocalist PAUL STANLEY and Isele as bassist GENE SIMMONS. "This is our way of saying, 'MDOC rocks,"' said Isele, who has GENE SIMMONS' trademark tongue-hanging-out look down to perfection. Katz said he was jumping in the lake for the Special Olympics athletes. "It's a thrill," Katz said. "People think you're crazy." But he said they know jumpers are dedicated to the cause of Special Olympics when they're willing to take the dive. Katz encouraged Isele to take his plunge for the first time. Second place went to Scott Holmes of Frankenmuth for his "Jack-in-the Box" costume, a decorated box held up with suspenders and a colorful jester hat. "Last year, I jumped in as a cow with udders but the udders held too much water," said Holmes. "This time, I don't want anything on my chest." When asked how he was feeling after emerging from the frigid water, Tim Cherry, who's been taking the plunge since 2002 said: "I'm just chillin'." Cherry, of Birch Run, took third place with what he described as his "Mr. Cool" costume, a purple suit trimmed in leopard skin with a floppy hat to match and large silver-rimmed sunglasses, a fake white beard and a walking stick with an eagle-faced handle as accessories. Smith and Cox, both from Clayton, say they are actually getting married March 12, but thought they would take "the plunge before the plunge." Smith, a corrections officer at Camp Branch in Coldwater, said this is his third time jumping, and he encouraged his bride-to-be to join him for a good cause. "We're going to see if I get cold feet before the wedding," said Cox, who with friend Carpenter, work as corrections officers at the MDOC facility in Jackson. |
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