Polar Plunging

March 02--LAKE SARA -- More than 300 people braved sub-freezing air temperatures and water temperatures in the 30s for the annual Polar Plunge at the Lake Sara beach over the weekend.

The diligent observer probably could have found close to 300 different reasons why "plungers" took that dip into icy waters to benefit area Special Olympics programs.

Megan Laughton and her friends at the Eastern Illinois University Student Council for Exceptional Children -- young ladies with a passion for helping those with special needs -- were getting cold to benefit those they hope to spend their working lives helping.

Eric Olszewski got a group together -- Team Ski -- in honor of his late father Dennis.

And Albert Trigg took the plunge to benefit the Special Olympics program that he participates in.

The crowd began gathering at the beach well before the noon starting time on Saturday. Organizers split the plungers into smaller groups for their dip into the icy waters. Because air temperatures have been so unseasonably cold recently, a hole had to be cut into the ice for the event to take place.

Laughton and her friends, fellow EIU juniors Bethany Hutson and a woman who gave her name as Kelly B., said they were all first-time plungers.

"It's just for a good cause," Laughton said.

"It's important to do this so that (Special Olympics) participants can have as much as they can," added Kelly B.

"It's another way for us to show support for Special Olympics," Hutson said.

Laughton comes by her passion for special needs folk honestly. Mom Janie has been teaching for 39 years, most recently in the special education program at Paris High School.

While Mother Laughton wasn't about to join her daughter and friends in the plunge, she expressed pride in the effort.

"Megan loves the Special Olympics, when you get to buddy with a kid," she said.

Olszewski, of Mattoon, couldn't contain his joy as he was getting ready to plunge.

"I'm super excited," he said. "I'm ready to get into that water."

Olszewski, who said he read about the event in the Effingham Daily News, organized the team to honor his late father, who spent much of his adult life in Effingham and Greenup.

"He would have been right here with us," young Olszewski said.

Once out of the water, plungers headed up a hill to where friends or family members greeted them with dry clothes, warm blankets and hugs.

Polar Plunging is nothing new to Trigg, a 14-year-old from Charleston who took his first Polar Plunge at age eight.

"It's really hard," Trigg said. "The coldest is the feet."

Grandma Debbie Trigg couldn't hide the admiration for her grandson, who participated in the softball throw and long jump at Special Olympics competitions -- when the weather gets a little warmer.

"I'm very proud of him," she said.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151, ext. 132, at bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com, or on Twitter @EDNBGrimes.

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