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With temperatures in the 20s, snow still on the ground and a crowd of cheering onlookers, University of Maine fraternities and sororities showed up this Saturday to dunk themselves in the name of raising money for the Penobscot Boys and Girls Club.
At 2 p.m., the scene was a chilly one, with some people having come already shirtless and others without towels. Some of the pens the Penobscot nation volunteers were using to help people sign liabilities and pledge sheets even froze up, but the temperature didn’t deter anyone’s motivation.
As Land Cook, a Sigma Phi Epsilon brother, said, “I can’t wait to get in there.”
As each fraternity and sorority was called, their members went charging into the thigh-high water, doing flips and submerging themselves completely. After a few seconds they’d come leaping out and head back to the Union or their houses, most running off through the snow without shoes.
UMaine participants had warm weather this weekend, but the event has been going on for years in other places and has already happened once this year in a different location.
The Penobscot Nation’s Boys and Girls Club uses fundraisers such as the Polar Bear Dip to provide kids with a gym for games, a learning center, a computer room, arts and crafts and a kitchen-cafeteria where kids can eat while they’re there, according to Carla Fearon, unit director of the Boys and Girls Club.
With concerns about the cold causing the fire department to attend just in case, Dean of Students Robert Dana said he never doubted UMaine’s Greeks.
“The Greek community is all about serving others, so we had no doubt there would be a good turnout, Dana said.”
For the first time, the event was cited by all participants as a big success. Between 50 and 75 people showed up and early estimates put the earnings at around $800-according to Fearon, an excellent result.
The event, while crowded with fraternity and sorority members, was open to all. Students took pledges from other people in the community or pledged their own money to take the dive.
Plans are underway to make this an annual event according to Amanda Mullen, a sister of Pi Beta Phi. She’ll be taking charge as the new vice president of programming for the Panhellenic Council, the group that organized the dip. Mullen seemed excited about the prospects of getting even more people on board for next time.
The only complaints from participants were about the lack of something to stand on after they jumped out of the cold water into the colder snow – something sure to be remedied as the event evolves. With free food and hot drinks, however, it’s enough to at least draw a crowd as awareness grows.
Some of the other fundraisers for the Boys and Girls Club include a dinner dance, wine and cheese tasting for some of their regular contributors and possibly an upcoming golf game.
Bangor Daily News