Community Corner
Jan 1 - Sons of Ireland Polar Bear Plunge
Sons of Ireland 11th Annual Polar Bear Plunge
Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
1-1-14
Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Join Us In Asbury Park on New Year’s Day 2014
With Brian Kirk & the Jirks,
Kimon & the Prophets, Bagpipers and More
Over $350,000 Raised for Local Charities Since 2003
2014 Charities:
180 Turning Lives Around
Horizons Student Enrichment Program
Impact Oasis
Kevin’s Journey of Hope
Parker Family Health Center
Jersey Blues/Funk/Rock Band
Kimon and the Prophets
Also Performing
NEW YEAR’S DAY 2014 WEATHER FORECAST:
A BALMY 33 DEGREES!
Event Timeline:
10am - 12 noon: Check-in/Registration
11am-12:30: Kimon and the Prophets
12:30pm: Bagpipe March to Beach
12:57pm: National Anthem
1pm: PLUNGE
1pm - 3pm: Party with Brian Kirk and the Jirks
Rumson, NJ – December 2013 What started in 2003 as a group of mostly Christian Brothers Academy alumni having some fun on New Year’s Day has evolved into a major annual fundraising event drawing close to 3,000 spectators and nearly 500 plungers who dip, jump, leap and body surf into the Atlantic Ocean on the morning of the first day of the New Year to raise money for worthy grassroots charities.
“It was just for fun at first,” says Sean Clifford,“a great way to start the New Year and raise money to help a good cause.” Clifford is one of the original core group of friends who formed the non-profit Sons of Ireland organization in 2002. The association is dedicated to the principles of brotherhood, charity and community service, and supports worthy charities and causes within the Monmouth County, NJ area.
“The plunge became an annual tradition and we started to charge twenty-five dollars to anyone who wanted to participate and then we donated the money to charity,” recalls Clifford. “I’m not sure that any of us, looking back, imaged that in ten years we’d still be doing this or that it would become so large or such an anticipated tradition along the Jersey Shore.”
This year, the event will benefit four local charities: 180 Turning Lives Around, Horizons Student Enrichment Program, Impact Oasis, Kevin’s Journey of Hope, and the Parker Family Health Center.
The Sons of Ireland Polar Bear Plunge has raised over $350,000 for more than a fifteen charities, including The 9/11 Fund for the Education of Monmouth County Children, The Ashley Lauren Foundation, The Barn for the Poorest of the Poor, Clean Ocean Action, The Mercy Center, The Wellness Community, Holiday Express, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middlesex & Monmouth Counties, Sea Bright Rising and Special Olympics.
The event was originally held at Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright which was very important to establishing the event as a tradition in the local Two River community. In 2008, the organizers were approached by Asbury Park and invited to use Convention Hall and the Asbury Park Boardwalk, which has really helped support the event as it has grown. “We have a very large, heated enclosure with Convention Hall,” says Dennis Nitka, another of the Sons of Ireland. “This gives us a large warm space to gather before and after the Plunge, plus plenty of parking, welcoming local businesses and other amenities. Everyone always looks forward to Brian Kirk and the Jirks performing, and it’s also a very family-friendly event.”
“Each plunger is asked to raise a minimum of $100,” says Clifford. “We have people of all ages who come out, from high school sports teams to groups of friends, people celebrating a milestone like a fiftieth birthday, people who just love the ocean…sometimes entire families take the plunge. It’s something all the spectators really enjoy watching.”
A Great Event Even for Landlubbers
Spectators enjoy a great day too. This year, Kimon and the Prophets will warm up the crowd pre-plunge. Post-plunge, Brian Kirk and the Jirks, one of New Jersey’s most popular club bands, will get the crowd dancing. The Sons of Ireland Polar Bear Plunge takes place at the Fifth Avenue intersection on Ocean Avenue, in Convention Hall on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. Food and beverages are available.
Registration begins at 10:00 a.m and the Polar Bear Plunge takes place at 1:00 p.m., following a bagpipe march to the water’s edge and the singing of the National Anthem. To register, or for more information, visit www.sonsofireland.org.
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