Special Olympics set to take Polar Plunge

Joe Grove and Jill Berterlsen
Special Olympian Joe Grove and Special Olympics Illinois Area 6 Director Jill Berterlsen preview the Polar Plunge. (Photo by Laura Ewan/WJBC)

By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – Officials at Special Olympics Illinois hope a later start this year will encourage more people to take the plunge.

The annual Polar Plunge at Miller Park Lake in Bloomington was moved this year to the last Saturday in February.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Colleen’s interview with Bertelsen and polar plunger Joe Grove on WJBC.

“We’ve raised over $30,000 so far so that’s super exciting for us,” Special Olympics Area 6 Director Jill Bertelsen said. “We have three more weeks left and hopefully we have nicer weather.”

Bertelsen told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin about 600 plungers have signed up so far, but the group needs about 250 more to reach last year’s total. Each participant has to raise $100.

The plunging begins at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 27. You can register to be part of the Radio Bloomington team or start your own team.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…