Penticton posted Jan 2, 2025 @ 12:00pm by Gord Goble
It was calm, it was dry and the thermometer read a comparatively balmy 2°C midday Wednesday for two of the very first events of the 2025 calendar year, the 39th annual Summerland Polar Bear Dip at Trout Creek’s Sun-Oka Park and the third annual Naramata Polar Bear Fire Plunge at Naramata’s Centre Beach. (for full article click the following LINK)
ABOUT THE NARAMATA POLAR BEAR FIRE PLUNGE:
As Nodge spoke, excitement was just beginning to ramp up across the lake in Naramata for the 1 PM start of that community’s Polar Bear Fire Plunge. The far younger event, originating in 2023, benefits the Naramata Fire Fighters Society.
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Action at Centre Beach
A half hour later, Centre Beach was home to a couple hundred people and a clearly upbeat vibe.
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Action at Centre Beach
One of the most upbeat, as he often is, was Snakebite Film Festival organizer and celebrated Penticton-based LGBTQ+ spokesperson Carl Meadows, who cavorted about in partial drag and brought smiles to the faces of virtually everyone. Accompanying Meadows was hubby Les Dyck and a group of friends, all of whom wore neon pink wigs.
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Action at Centre Beach
Also on the beach were globetrotting besties Kalina Eisenmann and Harper Doull. Eisenmann, who lives in Summerland when she’s not studying international business in the Netherlands, skipped her side of the lake in favour of Naramata to catch up with her buddy.
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Action at Centre Beach
Doull, who just moved back home to Penticton after living in southern Africa for the past couple years, said she loved the overseas experience but is happy to be home.
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Action at Centre Beach
“I lived there for two years and just moved back ten days ago,” said the employee of Naramata’s Just Baked coffee shop. “I’ll miss it, but I have family and friends here and that’s great.”
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Action at Centre Beach
The two opted for the Fire Plunge when Doull saw a promo.
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Action at Centre Beach
“I saw it and said, frick yeah, we can do that,” she laughed. “We have nothing else going on.”
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Action at Centre Beach
For Lou Meinardus of Naramata, the 2025 event would be her second Fire Plunge. And she wasn’t going to let a leg cast stop her.
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Action at Centre Beach
“I fell at the hockey rink,” she sheepishly told us. “And now I have four broken bones in my foot.
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Action at Centre Beach
“But that’s okay. The PenSAR people are going to help me into the water.”
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Action at Centre Beach
Volunteer co-organizer Will van Middendorp, whose wife belongs to the Naramata Fire Fighters Society (and who’s taken the plunge himself every year), explained the origins.
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Action at Centre Beach
“We started it as a fundraiser for the Fire Fighters Society, but also to bring the community, family and friends together to start off the new year,” he said.
“Seeing the support from everyone, I truly am proud to call Naramata home.”
Photo Credit: NowMedia/Gord Goble
Action at Centre Beach
Ultimately, the 2025 iterations of the Naramata and Summerland events raised in excess of $3,000 each for their worthy organizing bodies.
Photo Credit: NowMedia/Gord Goble
Action at Centre Beach