DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — On the Door County Peninsula, what started as a simple idea decades ago is now an annual tradition in Jacksonport.
At the Jacksonport Annual Polar Bear Club Plunge on New Year’s Day, it may be cold out but folks are having a great time.
The annual Polar Bear Plunge started in the 1980s with J.R. Jarosh, a teen who just wanted to take a dip in Lake Michigan.
"Initially it was just a simple challenge, could I do it," J.R. Jarosh, the founder of the Polar Bear Plunge, said.
40 years later, the Polar Bear Plunge has become a free New Year’s Day tradition, drawing hundreds to brave the icy waters of Lake Michigan as crowds line the shores of Jacksonport.
And Jarosh? He’s right there in the action, suiting up once again to keep the tradition alive.
"For the 20th, I thought I gotta go up from the bow-tie cummerbund, so I started wearing the tux for the 20th, and 20 swims later it still feels pretty good," Jarosh said.
Families of all ages came out to continue their own longstanding traditions.
Rob Hyde and his brother-in-law, John Czapla, started plunging into the icy water 21 years ago as a joke and now their kids are diving in right alongside them, keeping the family fun going strong.
"There were three kids in car seats on the beach. We had no idea what we were doing, freezing our butts off, and then ten years later they started doing it," Rob Hyde, said.
The event drew some first-time plungers too, like Ian Johnson from Eau Claire, who jumped in for the very first time to honor his family’s tradition.
"Getting in there, stepping on the ice, running around with all the people spraying around, it's an electric experience," Ian Johnson said.
After the polar plunge, the beach emptied quickly but what stayed on the beach were the memories families made and the traditions they continue year after year.
