HELEN — The annual Winter Bear Plunge at Unicoi State Park near Helen drew its largest crowd yet Saturday.
Organizers say the noon event, a fundraiser for Friends of Unicoi State Park, drew 65 registered plungers and more than 200 people to Unicoi Beach on the shore of Smith Lake, commonly called Unicoi Lake.
The water temperature just before the event was 45 degrees, approximately the same as the air temperature without factoring in the wind chill.
Mark Palen of Helen is a repeat participant.
“I am a repeat plunger,” Palen said. “This is my third plunge, and it was a great day. The sun was shining, the water was cold, and we had a lot of people out here and raised a lot of money for the Unicoi Park, so it was a great day.”
One of the first-time Winter Bear Plunge participants is no stranger to cold water, but still was taken by surprise.
“It was colder than I thought it would be,” said Walter Snyder of Faschingsverein Helen, a club that sponsors the annual Fasching (German Mardi Gras) March to the River and River Parade in Helen each winter. “Normally when it’s cold outside, it’s warm in the water. This was cold outside and colder in the water. It was super cold!”
