Special Olympics to take Polar Plunge at VU

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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:21AM

Even though we’ve had a milder winter than we usually have, it’s still been cold enough to shiver without a warm jacket.

It won’t be long until hopefully hundreds of men, women, boys and girls will be “Freezin’ for a Reason.” The Polar Plunge is Special Olympics Indiana’s statewide fundraiser each year, and Valparaiso University is the location for the Area 1 Special Olympics plunge.

If we’re lucky, maybe the “freezin’ ” will be in the high 40s. No matter what the temperature, though, every dime raised that day will help offset the rising costs of Special Olympics programs in Lake, LaPorte, Porter, St. Joseph, Elkhart and Jasper counties. That equals more than 1,500 athletes!

This year’s plunge will be held Feb. 18 with a big round pool filled with “cool” water parked outside of the Athletics Recreation Center. Plungers are asked to raise at least $75, although there are incentives for those who go higher and higher in their pledges.

If you or your group are interested in joining the fun with our athletes, parents, and coaches, please call Chuck Garber at the VU police station, or leave a message on our Special Olympics phone at 465-1323.

We’d love to have everyone in Porter County each just donate $1, and our goal would be over the top. So, if you belong to a civic organization, a fraternity or sorority, a bridge club, a school club, or a family, please think about being the “collector” and I’ll be glad to be the proxy plunger.

Just leave me a message on the Special Olympics phone or email me at blwoycik@comcast.net, and whatever you “collect” will be gratefully accepted.

Then, please put a big circle around Feb. 18 at 11 a.m., and come in your snuggly coat to cheer on all the blue-skinned plungers who have warm hearts for a very special reason. You can even stay for lunch! I’ll be watching for you!

What a great day it was on Monday at Valparaiso University in honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

All the specials that were offered for everyone to continue to remember how important it is for all of us to reach out to each other without preconceived notions or prejudices hopefully helps erase stereotypical thinking.

I know I sometimes believe in Utopia, but I really think it would be super if everyone who was at any MLK Day event would put what he or she heard to use in their daily lives.

Oh well, if Dr. King could have a dream, so can I.

If there is anything that gets me angry, it’s the ugliness of cancer.

It seems that it keeps on creeping up on people I love, and although most of them are fortunate enough to have survived it, a friend to many succumbed to its nastiness recently. His name was Dick Harlan, and if you ever listened to a Valpo Viking radio sports broadcast, you heard his voice, or if you went to a VU basketball game, you heard his melodious tones describing every action on the court.

And if you ever had a need and Dick knew about it, it would be taken care of. Or if you needed a reason to turn a hurt into a happy, Dick would find a way to make you laugh.

Although cancer took him away from his family and friends much too quickly and much too early, his is a voice that will live in many hearts for many more years.

I pray that soon, very soon, there are no more voices silenced by cancer so that every day is a day to make us laugh.

And I hope you have a great day because you deserve it. Thanks for reading. Fly your flag.