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Jacksonport Polar Bear Club Gets Another Call From Hollywood
By Jon Jarosh, Jacksonport Polar Bear Club
Dec 7, 2011 - 8:41:35 AM
Swimmers needed for December 10 filming event at Lakeside Park The Jacksonport Polar Bear Club is looking for volunteer swimmers to don their trunks and take a dip into Lake Michigan on Saturday December 10 as part of a video being filmed about the popular New Year’s Day event that first started in Jacksonport back in 1986.
Interested swimmers and spectators are being asked to show up at Lakeside Park in Jacksonport at 11 AM on Saturday December 10 and proceed to the registration booth in the upper pavilion to sign a video release form before heading down to the beach. The swim will take place on the beach in Lakeside Park at 12 noon, and the filming should conclude between 12:30-1:00 PM. Swimmers should bring items they’d typically bring for the New Year’s Day swim including swim suits, warm clothes, blankets, towels, etc. As always, costumes are encouraged!
Attendees are also encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item which will be donated to Feed My People, a Door County based food pantry.
A Los Angeles based video production company will be in Jacksonport on December 10 to film the event as part of a digital documentary series called Fresh Takes on Family Time. This series highlights interesting family traditions across the country, and the decades-old tradition of hundreds of polar bears jumping into an icy Lake Michigan in Jacksonport each year was simply too much for producers to pass up. The video episode will be released sometime early next year on freshtakes.msn.com and other online outlets such as YouTube. The series is being promoted to millions on the msn.com homepage.
Jon Jarosh, spokesperson and vice-president of the Jacksonport Polar Bear Club, Ltd, said it’s a unique opportunity for the club to showcase the event and how many families have adopted the tradition of jumping into Lake Michigan to start off the new year. “Not only has the swim been a tradition in my family for many years, lots of other families have made the swim part of their New Year’s Day tradition each year now, too. We’re excited to highlight that particular aspect of the swim during filming on Dec. 10.”
Jarosh said conflicts with the Los Angeles based video production company’s schedule prohibited them from filming the club’s upcoming 26th annual swim on January 1, 2012, which is why a recreated version of the swim is needed on Saturday December 10. “We’re hoping to get a nice crowd for the recreated event and look forward to seeing lots of swimmers and spectators on the beach in Jacksonport that day. We’re looking at it as a fun tune-up for the official swim scheduled for New Year’s Day a few weeks later,” he said.
The classic wooden polar bears will welcome swimmers to the beach as usual and the traditional 10 second countdown will precede the mad-dash into Lake Michigan at 12 noon. Brand new 2012 Jacksonport Polar Bear Club t-shirts will be for sale for a limited time at the park in the registration booth that day as well. 2012 shirts are also available at the Jacksonport Craft Cottage.
Questions by interested swimmers or spectators about the Saturday December 10 event can be directed to the Jacksonport Welcome Center by phone at 920-823-2288 or jarosh@dcwis.com.
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