Polar Plunge raises thousands for local fire department
Port Jervis. About 69 brave souls took the plunge.
| 13 Jan 2025 | 11:49
Chip Estenes, dressed as a loggerhead sea turtle, takes the plunge for the sixth year in a row. (
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About 69 people participated in the annual fundraising event.
Fire department members cut through the ice of the Delaware River in preparation for the sixth annual Polar Plunge.
Helen Ross and family gathered from far and wide to pay tribute to her mother Miriam Spence McGrail, a former Port Jervis resident.
A warm fire helped the polar plungers recover from their icy dip.
The buzz of the saw as it cuts through the ice. The flames of the crackling warming fires. The Port Jervis Fire Department rescue trucks on West End Beach. All this could only mean one thing: it’s time for the sixth annual Port Polar Plunge. This annual event, which helps to raise money in support of the Port Jervis Fire Department’ s Special Operations Team, was held on the morning of January 11.
Manning the registration booth were members of the Port Jervis Recreation Commission: Melissa Newhauser, and Sean Addy. Director John Faggione stated that 66 participants were pre-registered with at least 11 walk-in registrants. Final figures obtained from the Recreation Department on January 13 were that a total of 69 people took the plunge and approximately $3,500 was raised.
This event is not just for the locals. Helen Ross made her first Port Polar Plunge trip a family affair. She and her husband Bob traveled from Washington, D.C., her daughter Kelly Flowers traveled from Charlotte, NC, and Eric James traveled from Baltimore, Md. As their matching hoodies proclaimed, they were taking the plunge “as a tribute to Miriam Spence McGrail who wrote an article about kayaking on the Delaware River in the 1930s.” McGrail, a Port Jervis resident, was Helen’s mother and was pictured on the front of the hoodies.
Participant Chip Estenes raised over $1,000. Estenes, who has participated in all six polar plunges, was easy to spot among the crowd. Dressed as a loggerhead sea turtle, he volunteers with the Outdoor Club of Port Jervis. He said he “comes out every year to support the special operations team and raise some funds for the important work that they do.”
Before the plunge began, Tim Simmons of the special ops team’s Water Operations Unit read the lengthy list of individuals and local businesses that sponsored the Port Polar Plunge, and who were featured on the back of the event’s official T-shirt.