Turkey Plunge a splashing success
Among the costumed revelers at Crescent Beach Saturday for the 5th annual Turkey Plunge, was a man dressed in a black and purple cassock.
Asked what his costume represented, Reverend Stephen Fearing, pastor of the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church said, “An ordained Presbyterian minister. Free baptisms today. A baptism you’ll remember.”
Reverend Fearing was just one of one of more than 130 people who, either as themselves or in the guise of an alter ego, won’t soon forget throwing themselves screaming and whooping into the bay across from the Sunset Beach Motel. Especially on a morning when temperatures were in the low 30s with water temperatures a bit higher.
The annual Turkey Plunge attracted more than 200 people to cheer on the brave souls taking to the waters. The event was a fundraiser for the Friends of the Library, with money coming from registration fees and sales of plunge items, such as shirts and caps. Island businesses contributed to a raffle and gift card prizes. SALT did a brisk (very) business selling bowls of chili with all proceeds going to the library. (See list below for those who participated.)
According to Sue Hine, organizeer of the event, more than $18,000 was raised.
It was an especially rewarding day for Peter Vielbig, who was plunging in memory of his wife, Gail, who passed away last May.
Vielbig family members, including granddaughter Charlotte, 15, who first came up with the idea five years ago, surrounded Mr. Vielbig before the plunge in the Sunset Beach Motel parking lot where the festivities kicked off.
“Gail was the midwife who brought the idea to life,” Mr. Vielbig said, noting that Mrs. Vielbig took Charlotte’s idea to the Friends of the Library. “She would have felt so pleased to see it,” Mr. Vielbig said about the strong turnout to support the library.
A penguin, complete with beak and large yellow feet, waddled through the crowds jamming the parking lot. On closer look, it was an incognito Library Director Denise DiPaolo. Ms. DiPaolo is leaving Shelter Island for the Montauk Library within a couple of weeks, but said she wouldn’t miss the Island’s plunge and has plans to be back next year.
As the theme from “Jaws” blasted ominously from loudspeakers through the lot, Alfred Lipsyte, 10, was blasé about the whole thing, this being his third year plunging. Asked the feeling of hitting the water, he said, as if speaking to the simple-minded, “It’s like a shock.”
Matt Badger was a six-foot walking hot dog accompanied by a juice box (three-year old Matteo Badger) and a box of French fries, or “small fry” (one year old Andre Badger).
Mr. Badger said in past years the shock of hitting the bay on a late November morning was “like an ice cream headache” for its immediate sensation of pain.
For their creativity, the Badger brothers — along with Gallo Patel — won prizes for the best costume in the kids’ category.
As plungers lined the beach, waiting for the blast of an air horn to seal their fates, a little girl asked her father, who was shifting weight from one leg to another in the cold: “Daddy, are you going to win?”
“Anyone how survives is a winner,” said Daddy.
The signal sounded and a joyous sound rose over the beach as people of all ages dashed into the bay. Coming out after a quick dip, a man was yelling, to no one in particular, “Alive! Alive!”
Winners at the 5th annual Friends of the Library Turkey Plunge
Best costumes, kids – Andre and Mateo Badger and Gallo Patel
Best costume, woman – Heather Brownlie
Best costume, man – Joe Hine
Most money raised by a family – Vielbig/Del Col/Horne families
Most money raised by a team – Happy Snappers (Alison Binder and Colleen Smith)
Most money raised by an individual – Joe Hine
Most money raised in the Gail Vielbig Not Plunging category – JoAnn Kirkland
Businesses and organizations that participated
Academy Printing
Anna’s Salon
Shelter Island Florist
Bella Vita Pizza
Coastal Cottage
Coastal Cottage
Corner Bar
Dering Harbor Company
Eagle Deli
East End Sporting Goods
Gardiner’s Bay Country Club
Happy Feet
North Fork Food Truck
Jack’s Marine
Sweet Tomatoes
Sag Harbor Cinema
Shelter Island Country Club
The Retreat
Shelter Island Historical Society
Shelter Island Library Knitters
Shelter Island Reporter
Shelter Island Pilates
Shelter Island Yoga & Fitness
Sylvester Manor Educational Farm
Table of Content
Vine Street Cafe
