To the Editor:

The Greater Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce and the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad would like to thank all the brave Polar Bear Plungers for the pledges they raised and plunging into the freezing St. Lawrence River! We didn’t have any ice but the river was still cold at 33 degrees – at least it was above zero!

We had (18) plungers who raised over $4,000. Paige Merz raised the most pledges – over $2,000 – and won $418.30 as the prize for the most pledges. Kim Demers won the Scaredy-Cat trophy for most pledges – Kim raised $367! The Badge Battle trophy was awarded to NYSCOPBA – they raised $150!

We awarded trophies for costumes: Best Female – Paige Merz – “Polar Bear Plunge Princess”; Best Male – David Ellis – “Mildred”; Best Team – Brittany Dority & Richard Bzura – “DeFelsko Bride & Groom”; Funniest – Kim Snyder – “Ms. Spring” and Most Original – Kiara Newtown – “Snow White”

The Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad helped us make sure the event is safe and successful by harnessing the plungers and helping them exit the water. A special “thank you” to Ken Gardner, Executive Director of the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and his crew – Assistant Chief Marcos Cartagena; Lieutenant Brandy Mills, Sean Moore and Bert Yuhasz.

Thank you to the North Country Savings Bank who donated goody bags for the plungers! Thank you to Tim Horton’s who donated coffee and hot cocoa and to Subway for donating 6 dozen cookies! A thank you to Matt Curatolo and the City Rec staff who helped set up the hot tub --Matt Denner -- and helped set up the Dobisky Visitor’s Center – Tia Beaulieu and staff. We are always grateful for our MC – Dawn Merz and Dave Merz for the PAC/YESFM Live Remote coverage! A thank you to the City of Ogdensburg for loaning us the beautiful Dobisky Visitor’s Center and the Marina. Thank you to Ellen from the Key Club who came to help out in the Cub’s Den.

Thank you to our sponsors: DeFelsko Corp; Community Health of the North Country; Kimro’s Medicine Place; Law Office of Marcia LeMay; Cape Air and Johnstown Duty Free Shop.

Our raffle winners were: Ken Gardner, 50/50 raffle; Rose Demers and Chris Fay, (1) case each of Toblerone candy donated by Johnstown Duty Free Shop; Alex Augsbury, Kimro’s Medicine Place Pamper Basket; Dave Merz, Johnstown Duty Free basket and Marcie Dean, (2) round-trip airline tickets to Boston, MA donated by Cape Air.

A special “thank you” to Brandi Jones, former office assistant and Steve Hawes for all the work they did prior to the event.

Last, but not least – a heartfelt thank you to the Greater Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce Board Members who worked the Polar Bear Plunge – Kim Demers, Mike Brashaw, Lee Jones, Michele Catlin, Melissa Lalonde, John Wade, Alex Augsbury, Sarah Purdy, Judy Ryan, Betsy Porter and R. O’Donnell.

Laura Pearson

Executive Director of Greater Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce