On Friday evening, 6-year-old Naomi Snyder became the youngest member of her family to carry on an important tradition: participate in the Polar Plunge.
Her mother Kelsey, Aunt Mollie Keliss and other relatives have participated in the annual Polar Plunge at Public Beach No. 2 at Lake of the Ozarks State Park in support of its cause, Special Olympics Missouri, and Kelsey's 5-year-old nephew who has cerebral palsy.
While her mom and aunt took the snowy, freezing dip into the Lake waters Saturday as part of the 20th Annual Polar Plunge in Osage Beach, Naomi was able to join in the fun with 13 fellow child plungers during the first Pee Wee Plunge at Tan-Tar-A Resort's indoor pool in Osage Beach as part of the weekend's festivities.
"We enjoy being a part of this event, and Naomi wanted to plunge for my nephew, too," said Kelsey, who lives in Boonville.
The event was open to children ages 3-9, who want to be just like the big kids and become a polar bear. All kids were asked to raise a minimum of $25. They received commemorative shirts and coupons for the indoor Timber Falls Waterpark at Tan-Tar-A.
Special Olympics Missouri Development Manager Crystal Schuster said 15 kids registered and 14 participated in the Pee Wee Plunge, which was also the first in Missouri.
"If it takes off, it will be something that we will offer online registration for, and that will make a huge difference," she said before the event. "We didn't promote costumes the first year, but have had the question asked by several parents."
Like her mom and relatives who have donned costumes such as footed pajama cuties and Little Bo Beep, Naomi only saw it fitting to dress up and plunge as her favorite Disney character, Elsa. Others also came in costume with Batman masks and decorative bathing suits. Some even created their own special outfit, such as 9-year-old Pee Wee plunger Courtney Browning, who was a "pretty in pink" princess named "Fancy Nancy" and came complete with a tiara.
Schuster said SOMO had a lot of parents tell its staff in past years they couldn't wait until their child turns 10 so they can participate in the Polar Plunge. She hopes the Pee Wee Plunge will "let the kiddos get a taste of the event" at an early age and carry on the tradition when they are old enough to participate in the Polar Plunge.
"Some other states have done this event and it's been a huge success, so we thought it would be a great addition to our 20th anniversary events," she said.
Schuster was pleased with the initial turnout for the first ever Pee Wee Plunge Friday and pleasantly surprised to see its participants collectively raised $711 for Special Olympics Missouri. In fact, Naomi was its top fundraising plunger, contributing $136 toward the non-profit organization.
As part of the Pee Wee Plunge, the 15 Super Plungers, who plunge every hour for 24 hours leading up to the Polar Plunge Saturday afternoon, did one of their plunges at the Pee Wee Plunge. They also led off the Polar Plunge Saturday with their final plunge and joined others who fought snow and blistering cold to take the big dip at Public Beach No. 2.
The Polar Bear Strut 5K is also part of the annual Polar Plunge activities, which took place Saturday morning starting and finishing at Osage Beach City Hall.
Between all these events, Special Olympics staff and event coordinators hoped to see 700 plungers and raise $220,000 this year. Final totals were not available as of press time, however, thousands had already been raised by participants, including one of the event's main sponsors, the Osage Beach Police Department, and fellow law enforcement. On Feb. 20, members of local law enforcement held their annual Cops on Top drive, seated on top of the Hy-Vee gas station, and raised $3,700 in donations and contributions from the community for Special Olympics Missouri.