Wednesday, 1/1/992

An article appears in The Post-Star on 1/2/92, on page B1, covering
the 1/1/1992 event.

The pictures are extremely blurry and hard to make out. One picture
is a small group in the water in front of the Shepard's Cove pier,
with the Horicon going by. The other is 2 women, in bathing suits,
sitting in lawn chairs on the beach (keep in mind that the beach in
92 was much smaller than it is now).

The pictures, taken by Monty Calvert, are described as: Members of
the Lake George Polar Bear club enjoy a chilly morning dip, above,
as spectators look on from the cruise boat Horicon. At right,
Michelle Colegrove, the Lake George Winter Carnival Queen, and Jodi
Ross, a carnival princess, sun themselves on the snow covered beach
at Shepard Park.

Making a mid-winter splash
Polar Bears brave a chilly Lake George
By Laura Rappaport
Staff Writer

Lake George - The ducks barely took notice of the people who charged
into Lake George Wednesday morning.

More than 50 swimmers joined their web footed friends for a brief
dip into the frigid waters off Shepard Park Beach in the 12th annual
Lake George Polar Club New Year's Day swim.

As they ran into the 38 degree water the swimmers were pelted with
snowballs tossed by spectators cruising on the Horicon ferry boat
and cheered by hundreds on shore.

But the ducks made a quick getaway from the commotion, paddling up
the lake and out of the way.

The Lake George tradition goes back 12 years, and is clearly alive
and kicking today.

"Why it's beautiful," declared club president, Charlie "Papa Bear"
Albert, as he stood knee-high in the water encouraging the more
timid to join him.

Some might think Albert has lost his marbles - or had one too many
on New Year's Eve - to want to plunge into the lake during winter.
But he swears he's just carrying on a global custom.

"It's a tradition all over the world to go in on New Year's Day," he
said after the swim, standing on the beach in shorts, tee-shirt and
snow covered white athletic socks.

In Yugoslavia, he said, people ring in the new year with a jump into
the Danube.

Most of the swimmers lingering on the beach after their dip said
they weren't cold, despite goose bumps popping up on arms, and the
reddish tint appearing on legs.

They didn't shiver or shake. Their lips weren't blue.

"I've been sittting up in the chair letting the sun defrost me,"
said 19-year-old Jodi Ross, the Lake George Winter Carnival Princess
for 1991.

The sun, beaming down on the beach on a virtually cloudless
afternoon, made the 26 degree air temperature feel warmer.

It also gave the beach the look of summer as the swimmers stood
squinting and comparing the cold-induced redness of their skin to
sunburn.

This year's swim was nothing like the one of two years ago, when
Albert had to cut a hole in the 18-inch-thick ice covering the lake
and freezing rain poured down.

"It took two days to cut the ice out and get ready," he recalled.

On Wednesday, the only ice on the water was from bits of snaowballs
floating around swimmers' knees.

The 53 "polar bears" were advised not to get their heads wet. Most
waded in only up to their waists or chests.

Cindy Pitts was one of the few intrepid souls top attempt some real
swimming.

"I just ran up and swam," she said, warming up over a cup of coffee
afterward in Shepard Cove Restaurant.

At 67, Norm Madsen of Argyle was Wednesday's oldest swimmer.

"I do it just for the fun of it," he said, adding he likes the
annual catching up with people he meets swimming every winter.

But is swimming in frigid waters healthy?

"It's never done me any harm," Madsen said.

Paul Finch, 25, the Poalr Club's athletic director, insists the
freezing swim is a great pick-me-up, especially the day after New
Year's Eve celebrations.

"You feel revitalized," he said.

As for the ducks? Once the people left, they went back to their
business as though nothing happened.