This is the Last Week to Sign Up to Jump in the Lake

This year’s Polar Bear Plunge is coming up Saturday, March 4 at the Hartwell Marina and there’s still time for both vendors and jumpers to register.

This is the 27th Polar Bear Plunge sponsored by the Northeast Georgia Council on Domestic Violence and Dr. Katherine Reusing says they’re expecting the Plunge to be better than ever this year.

“It’s our winter festival and of course, we want to make it bigger and better than ever,” she said. “We’re really excited because our chili cook-off is back. We weren’t able to have that for a few years because of COVID so we’re very excited to have that back as part of the winter festival. We are looking for vendors and jumpers. We are also starting something new by having a different bear every year on the t-shirt. So, repetitive jumpers can have a new t-shirt every year with a different bear.”

Reusing said another new event for the jumpers will be the chance to win a raffle.

“We have prizes like we do every year. We have prizes for the most money raised, the best costume, the best jump things like that but this year we’re also going to enter all the jumpers into a raffle as well. So, there is one more prize that everybody might be able to win and it’s not dependent on anything except you jumping,” Reusing explained.

The Northeast Georgia Council on Domestic Violence depends on grants, donations, and fundraising to provide its services.

Reusing said most of the grant money must go to specific areas, but the money raised from the Polar Bear Plunge is used to provide services the grants do not cover.

Vendor and jumper registration is still going on through February 28 and Reusing is asking those who are interested in having a booth at the Jump to register as soon as possible.

If you want to jump, you can register by requesting a packet.  Jumpers are asked to either raise or donate $75 to jump.

The Winter Fest will begin at 11a at the Hartwell Marina with the Polar Bear Plunge starting at 12:30p.

To request a registration packet you can contact the offices of the Northeast Georgia Council on Domestic Violence at (706)-377-4884 or email [email protected].