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Cameron Kirkpatrick has already checked one item off of his 2012 to-do list — jump into a freezing cold body of water.
At 10 years old, the Washington resident was one of the youngest participants at the 2012 East Peoria Boat Club’s Polar Ice Plunge. Ten marks the minimum age a jumper must be to participate. Three men shared the title of this year’s oldest jumper at 67.
“(Cameron) wanted to do it this year, so I decided to jump with him,” said his father, Rob Kirkpatrick, 42. “Last year we came to watch and he saw this and said, ‘Absolutely, we have to do this next year.’”
Donning red and green striped tights, angel wings and an Angry Birds hat, Cameron joined his father and 450 others in jumping into the Illinois River Jan. 1.
Last year, the event raised $12,500 for various children’s charities. This year, event chairwoman Dot Perrine said she hopes to match that total, if not exceed it.
“We’ll have at least $12,000 to donate this year,” she said. “That’s pretty good for a day’s work.”
“It was a lot of fun,” Cameron said. “But it was freezing.”
Cameron said he plans to ring in 2013 by making his second appearance at the Polar Plunge with his father — who took the plunge once about 15 years ago — by his side.
Cameron’s mother, Jackie Kirkpatrick, however, has no plan of joining her husband and son in their New Year’s Day tradition.
“I think they’re crazy,” she said. “But ever since Cameron saw it last year he’s been wanting to do it. He found out the minimum age and he talked about it all year. I’m so proud of him. I think it’s awesome.”
Although 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the event in East Peoria, Perrine said it actually began in Chillicothe about 30 years ago.
This year, jumpers paid $20 to jump into the icy cold waters. Every bit of that, along with some money from event sponsors, go to local children’s charities. This year’s polar ice plunge will benefit charities including Dream Factory, the South Side Mission’s Camp Kearney, Crisis Nursery and the Center for Prevention of Abuse.
But why jump into the Illinois River in January when there are plenty of other ways to raise money for charity?
“A lot of people just want to do it for the adrenaline rush,” Perrine said. “We have a lot of repeat jumpers. They just keep coming back and they love it.”
Cameron Kirkpatrick has already checked one item off of his 2012 to-do list — jump into a freezing cold body of water.
At 10 years old, the Washington resident was one of the youngest participants at the 2012 East Peoria Boat Club’s Polar Ice Plunge. Ten marks the minimum age a jumper must be to participate. Three men shared the title of this year’s oldest jumper at 67.
“(Cameron) wanted to do it this year, so I decided to jump with him,” said his father, Rob Kirkpatrick, 42. “Last year we came to watch and he saw this and said, ‘Absolutely, we have to do this next year.’”
Donning red and green striped tights, angel wings and an Angry Birds hat, Cameron joined his father and 450 others in jumping into the Illinois River Jan. 1.
Last year, the event raised $12,500 for various children’s charities. This year, event chairwoman Dot Perrine said she hopes to match that total, if not exceed it.
“We’ll have at least $12,000 to donate this year,” she said. “That’s pretty good for a day’s work.”
“It was a lot of fun,” Cameron said. “But it was freezing.”
Cameron said he plans to ring in 2013 by making his second appearance at the Polar Plunge with his father — who took the plunge once about 15 years ago — by his side.
Cameron’s mother, Jackie Kirkpatrick, however, has no plan of joining her husband and son in their New Year’s Day tradition.
“I think they’re crazy,” she said. “But ever since Cameron saw it last year he’s been wanting to do it. He found out the minimum age and he talked about it all year. I’m so proud of him. I think it’s awesome.”
Although 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the event in East Peoria, Perrine said it actually began in Chillicothe about 30 years ago.
This year, jumpers paid $20 to jump into the icy cold waters. Every bit of that, along with some money from event sponsors, go to local children’s charities. This year’s polar ice plunge will benefit charities including Dream Factory, the South Side Mission’s Camp Kearney, Crisis Nursery and the Center for Prevention of Abuse.
But why jump into the Illinois River in January when there are plenty of other ways to raise money for charity?
“A lot of people just want to do it for the adrenaline rush,” Perrine said. “We have a lot of repeat jumpers. They just keep coming back and they love it.”
Temperatures in the mid-30s coupled with a lack of snow or ice, Perrine said, made this year’s jump a bit more tolerable than those of past years.
“It was warmer, but the wind was bad,” she said. “I think that hurt a bit, but everybody still had a great time.
“We’ve had years where the river was completely covered in ice and we’ve had to use picks to break it up.”
The mild weather, however, was not enough to convince first-time jumper Jennie Camp, 28, to take the plunge a second time.
“I did it once and it was fabulous,” said Camp, of Washington. “It was fun, but I think it’s one of those things that you do once to say you did it, but then you don’t want to do it again. It was freezing.”
Fellow Washingtonian Bill Fargher, 27, disagrees with Camp’s “do it once to say you’ve done it” mentality. 2012 marked Fargher’s sixth or seventh (he couldn’t remember for sure) jump.
Fargher advises jumpers to wear “shoes that don’t fall off” and as little clothing as possible.
“I wore daisy dukes and no shirt,” he said.
Fargher added that he will most likely be spotted diving into the cold waters on New Year’s Day in the future.
“It’s a good time and it’s for charity,” Fargher said. “Everybody can enjoy it. Plus, everybody should do something crazy every now and then.”
