OGDEN DUNES, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A family tradition that started 21 years ago today continued in Ogden Dunes, Indiana, where about three dozen people took a Polar Plunge in Lake Michigan.
“My dad and his sisters were trying to come up with something to do on New Year’s Day and they thought, 'Why not jump in the lake,'” said Matt Anderson, one of the inaugural family plungers. “They’re kind of crazy and it’s just that simple.”
His dad is Wade Anderson, who told us the tradition started out as a basic Festivus celebration, from the hit TV sitcom "Sienfeld."
"We were all fans of Seinfeld and a big part of Festivus is the airing of grievances and we all had plenty of those, so we got together for the airing of grievances," Wade Anderson said.
They all decided to just go jump in the lake as an extended family fun activity. The Andersons have been doing it ever since.
Friends joined the event Jan. 1 with both the air and water temperature at around 40 degrees.
Wade’s sister, Elsie Anderson, who organizes the event, said the high lake level has steadily pushed the event to the west from the original location about a quarter mile down the beach, because there is no beach left where they started.
“We have been out here when it’s been real cold," Elsie Anderson said. "We’ve been out here when it’s a little bit warmer, but the fact that we have a beach — it’s a good day.”
One of the family members said it’s not a fund-raiser, but a fun-raiser.
A very cold-looking woman jogged out of the water saying, "wonderful. It was so fun, what a way to start the new year."