Recently my brother and I were nominated to do the “Polar
Plunge” for cancer research. You’ve seen all the videos out there of people
doing it, and a lot of them are super creative and I believe that even though a
bunch of people aren’t living up to the rule of, pay $10 to any charity after
you’ve completed it and $100 if you choose not to complete it, a lot of people
also are doing it right, and those doing it wrong may still be nominating more
people who do actually donate so overall I’d say it’s quite literally a pretty
cool thing.
But there are some naysayers out there that think that
jumping into the cold water this time of year is just a stupid thing to do and
dangerous besides. It is true that the cold water does send a shock to the body
right away and perhaps if you were dumb enough to jump into extremely deep
water and have to swim quite a ways to get to shore, you might run into a
problem…but it’s not called the “Polar Swim,” you plunge, then you get the heck
out of there!
Like any activity you just have to be smart about how you do
it. We’re Minnesotans. Fire Departments, Police Departments, and other
organizations of the like do this all of the time even mid-winter for
fundraisers. They’ll cut a hole in the ice to do the “Polar Plunge,” so although
the ice has recently gone off the rivers and lakes around here; it’s still
warmer water than has been jumped in for this activity before.
Just be smart. Have warm clothes ready as well as a towel
and get some place warm right away…then make your donation! This is one of the
awesome things about social media; people can spread a little fundraiser like
this to so many people and can do it quickly! The challenge states that you
have 24 hours to complete it, could you imagine if this was attempted using
USPS mail rather than Facebook, Twitter, email or whatever?
So the money raised through this fundraiser could not have
been done without these “terrible” social media sites. They’re not the devil
and they aren’t stupid, they can be, but if used properly they can be an
awesome tool to reach old friends, meet new ones, and even raise a ton of money
for cancer research. So kudos to whoever started this fundraiser, you’re doing
the internet right!
Here’s my “Polar Plunge” as well as my brother's!
Ryan(I'm not quite up-to-date with my tech skills...plus it took forever to upload these just to Facebook!)
On the “Plunge” note, I’d also like to drop a quick line to
four awesome people getting married today; Alex French & Andrea Malmberg
and Kurt Philion & Sara Dally. I’ve only recently met Sara but she seems
like a pretty awesome person and must be since a guy like Kurt chose her to
become his wife. Kurt is one of my greatest friends, a guy who I’ve known just
about my entire life and have watched become the outstanding man that he is
today.
Alex is a Cromwellian. One of the many people we’ve had the privilege
of meeting and becoming friends with due to the fact that our sister once
taught there and that our college roommate, Danny Dahl, is from there. He’s one
of those friends that live a pretty significant distance from us now but one
that you always know you’ll be friends with, no matter what! A few years ago
this Andrea chica interrupted our bromance and although it was pretty tough to
watch the love of my life find a girl…it quickly became apparent that she wasn’t
just “a girl,” but “the girl.” Andrea is awesome. She’s a lot of fun, she’s
caring, funny, easy going, and the absolute perfect girl for Alex…all wrapped
up in a neat little carry-on size!
Both couples are entering into a new chapter in their lives
and although one wedding is in Brainerd and the other is in Foston/Mahnomen…we’re
going to attempt to make both. Some people are just worth the work, and I can’t
wait to share in their special day with both couples!
Congratulations guys! I can’t wait to dance on you…
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