“Why do people do this every year?” gasped one of the participants in the annual Alpena Polar Plunge on Saturday, urging her fellow penguin-costumed jumper to hurry out of the frigid Long Lake water.

Several dozen people in silly costumes launched themselves into a hole in the ice behind the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township at the event, part of a tradition that has raised large sums to support Michigan Special Olympics.

Plungers raised almost $30,000 before Saturday’s event, with more donations dropped off before the start of plunge as participants and patrons hid from the minus 6 windchill outside.

“I like ice baths,” said 17-year-old Grace Mitchell, dressed as Disney character Elsa, waiting indoors for the plunge to begin. “I hope it’s like that.”

News Photo by Julie Riddle The Incredible Hulk, a.k.a. George Snedden of Alpena, tears off a t-shirt before jumping into Long Lake during the annual Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

The optimistic first-time plunger raised about $1,200 in sponsorships for her jump, she said.

A jumping team from Wolverine State Credit Union brought in another $1,400, said participant Nick Montie, who shrugged off the potential cold of his upcoming leap.

“We already live in Northern Michigan,” Montie said cheerfully. “It’s par for the course.”

Donations on behalf of long-time plunger George Snedden topped $8,000, more than double the highest Snedden has brought in in a single jump in his decade-plus of participation in the event.

“We’ll see,” Snedden said, asked if this year’s plunge would be his last. “This is kind of a thing for me.”

News Photo by Julie Riddle Elsa and a rabbit splash into Long Lake during the Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

First-time plunger Ted Johnson decided to take the plunge this year because “I felt like it,” said the Sand Bar and Grill employee who has helped with the restaurant’s other volunteer events in the past. “It gets you out of your comfort zone.”

When plunging time arrived, restaurant patrons spilled outside to a back deck, where the costumed jumpers paraded through the well-bundled crowd before stepping, one by one, to the edge of a hole sawn in the ice.

“You guys warmed it up, right?” said the first plunger of the afternoon, dressed as the Marvel Comics character Deadpool, before sending up a splash of cold water.

As judges watched, plungers showed off their best moves, cannonballing and kicking on their way to a splash landing and emerging with shocked faces and shouts of surprise and cold.

“It only hurts for about an hour,” a repeat plunger, dressed as a duck, said to a fellow jumper as they walked to the hole. “Then it’ll be better, I promise.”

News Photo by Julie Riddle A participant plummets toward Long Lake during the annual Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

From Granny Wolverine — offering the crowd a sassy wiggle before she and her cane leaped into the water – to a petite Woody the Cowboy, who set her shoes primly on a ramp before dancing and posing on the ice’s edge, to a magnificent and stately Uncle Sam, the plungers wowed the crowd and made them grateful to be dry and fully clothed.

“Make the right decisions,” emcee John Fisher cautioned the judges as they deliberated the day’s best costume after the last plunger plunged. “There’s still an open hole.”

The party returned indoors, and plungers celebrated their united fundraising success by changing out of their soaking clothes as quickly as possible.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Autumn Cameron, left, jumping as Granny Wolverine, leaps into Long Lake alongside Wolverine Credit Union representative Ashley Long during the annual Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A pair of penguins plunges into Long Lake during the annual Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Sarah Henegariu, left, of Grayling, and Peyton Banks, of Hillman – otherwise known as the Brrrrrrevengers – participate in the Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A jubilant Woody the Cowboy/girl emerges from Long Lake with a flourish during the Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township on Saturday.

News File Photo A plunger shows off fancy moves during the Alpena Polar Plunge at the Sand Bar and Grill in Alpena Township in 2022.