LEWISBURG -- Why?
Group by group, about 250 otherwise perfectly sane-looking folks dived in and ran out of the Susquehanna River at St. George Street landing Saturday in the Seventh annual Polar Bear Plunge, part of the yearly Heart of Lewisburg Ice Festival.
Why?
Two men with names of businesses and people scrawled on their backs -- sponsors, if you will -- one guy in top hat and tails, and someone in a chicken suit were among those taking the plunge.
Why?
One older woman took her cane into the water with her, said this was on her "bucket list."
Why?
"Why not?" said Matthew Cross, of New Columbia, who, decked out in a suit coat and tie and swimming trunks, made this his fourth Polar Bear Plunge. "It's not cold at all. It's actually exhilarating."
Not cold? Not as cold as usual; the water was 41 degrees, said Tom Holtzapple, of the Montgomery river rescue unit. Several onlookers said there was ice (ice!) on the river for last year's event.
EMTs in survival suits standing chest-deep in the Susquehanna made sure the bikini- and Speedo-clad (oh, yes, they went there) and everyone else who went into the river went back out.
Sane or not, those going in for a dip seemed to enjoy themselves to varying degrees. One group of well-built guys, all looking college age-ish, ran into the water with a "yeaaaahhh!" and all ran back out with a "whoooaaaa!"
You think men in survival suits would have been a hint to people, but no.
"Freezing," was Carly Cizewski's response when asked how the water felt. The seven-year-old happened to jump into a creek a few weeks ago while walking with her mother Eileen Cizewski, both of Millville, and said she wanted to be a "polar," like mom.
Where did that get her? In the river with mom, who's done the plunge a few times. Mom was loving and excited over this special mother-daughter time. But wrapped in a towel, Carly looked like she wanted to both laugh and cry. No more plunges for Carly, she said, and mom owes her $10.
Did someone say jumping into frigid water with your children is a bonding experience? Because a lot of people were doing it, including Jeff Lewis, of Sunbury who took sons Holden, 12, and Cole, 11, in for a frosty swim, a first time for all of them. They later donned toasty, dry clothes and piled into their minivan, preparing to get Thai food in celebration.
"I did it for the T-shirt," Cole said, which he didn't get because the shirts were all gone. He braved the water anyway and wants to do it again next year because he wants that shirt.
"It was really muddy and cold," Holden said. "It took your breath away for a few seconds." The feeling for a first timer in the frigid water: "numb," he said. "I couldn't feel a thing."
Dad agreed. "It was weird, because I could feel my knees and below just kind of give out," Jeff Lewis said.
Yet all three men agreed it was invigorating and want to do it again. No thanks, said Lewis' daughter Madison, 14: "I was cold just watching them."
That was the prevailing feeling among the landlubbers, at least 200 among them, watching the event.
"They're nuts," said Rebecca Hartswick, of Mifflinburg. Would she consider taking the plunge? "No," she said, "I have a brain."
Leaving your brain behind seems a strategy to surviving the Polar Bear Plunge, at least according to Cross. "You have to forget that it's cold," he said, "and get into the moment. You will get hooked on it."
Right ... but why?
