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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, February 29, 2024
Volume 16, No. 19
COMPLIMENTARY
Jump Raises 180K for Children with Serious Health Concerns By WRILEY NELSON
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MILFORD he bright, cold afternoon of Saturday, February 17 saw hundreds of people flock to the waterside at Silliman Cove on Goodyear Lake for the 26th annual Polar Bear Jump. Participants and spectators huddled close to the shoreline as the weather seesawed between full sun and snow squalls that reduced visibility to a few hundred feet, all accompanied by a gusting, bitter wind. Due to poor ice conditions, the jump was moved from its usual location in the center of the lake to a wading area near the shore. Reactions to the change were mixed; jumpers who were accustomed to simply stepping off a platform all at once faced the far more daunting prospect of walking out into the four-foot water and immersing themselves a bit at a time. As always, volunteer teams of rescue divers and emergency medical responders waited in the wings. Lifelong area residents Brenda and Jamie Waters started the Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump in 1996 with a handful of participants. It has grown to a major local tradition and fundraising institution that routinely attracts more than 200 jumpers. Entire families and workplaces attend as teams, competing against one another to raise the most money and often wearing matching uniforms for the jump. This year, the Polar Bear Jump family, as many participants call it, outdid itself, raising more than $182,000.00. Although Brenda and Jamie have not yet confirmed the total, they believe that this year’s donations put their cumulative total over the past quarter-century at well over $2 million. Organizers selected nine local children with chronic or severe health conditions as this year’s recipients, including Callie Shaw, Taylor Piucci, Rowan DeCocker, Windsor Tietjen, Madison Monton, Max Pascarella, Scarlett Vandermark, Jax Baldwin and Harlee Booker. Visit www.pbjump.com/ recipient-stories/ to read their stories. Several recipients attended the jump to watch their friends, family members and fundraising teams take the plunge. “We had 223 people make the jump this year,” Brenda said. “We’ve had bigger turnouts in the past, but the people who turn up every year no matter what INSIDE
Photo courtesy of Chipped Paint Media
Onlookers and jumpers waiting in line for their turn watch as intrepid community members take the plunge to benefit children with chronic or severe health conditions at this year’s Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump.
are serious. Many of them have started their own annual fundraising events to get sponsors for the jump; some of them run line dancing events, and a few local businesses did daily donation drive events for weeks. I really can’t believe just how committed so many people are to helping out the recipients.” The community spirit was palpable as the crowd cheered for each group running into the water. Many teams sported flashy or humorous outfits, and about half did their fundraising and jump on behalf of a particular recipient. One man raised more than $19,000.00 by himself, prompting a cheer from the audience that drowned out the rest of the announce-
ment. Several jumpers self-identified as the hapless partners or fiancées of people who have made the jump with their families for decades; “Now you’re really part of the family,” exclaimed an in-law on the shore. The Polar Bear Jump recently received 501c3 status, allowing it to accept more corporate donations. Many local businesses donate money or items for the benefit auction that typically takes place a few weeks before jump day. “With the new tax benefit for donating to us, we’ve gotten a lot more help from businesses around Continued on page 11
Pulitzer Winner Speaks on Journalism, Democracy
► new pastors to be installed, page 2
By TERESA WINCHESTER
► committee welcomes new residents, page 2
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► What is augmented reality? page 3 ► big PhRMa, big business, page 4 ► be afraid but do it anyway, page 4 ► news from the otsego county chamber, page 5 ► play focus is on ripper victims, page 6 ► derosa musings, page 6 Follow Breaking News On
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Photo by Nick George
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Mike McIntire spoke at Hartwick College last week.
ONEONTA ince 2003, Mike McIntire has been reporting for the “New York Times” on issues such as health and safety, public institutions, white collar crime, Wall Street bailouts, terrorism, gun violence, and more. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, receiving his first award for his reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his second in 2021 for reporting on the nefarious underpinning beneath “routine” traffic stops across the United States. On Thursday, February 22, McIntire returned to his alma mater, Hartwick College, to give the 2024 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture, titled “Investigative Journalism and Democracy,” appearing at the invitation of the college’s Institute of Public Service. Speaking to an audience of approximately 90
people gathered in the theater of Hartwick’s Anderson Center for the Arts, McIntire talked about his early experience in journalism, the evolution of investigative journalism, and briefly reviewed a number of his own articles on topics such as former President Donald Trump’s undisclosed income tax returns, his tax avoidance, and his personal involvement in the January 6, 2020 insurrection at the United States Capitol. A 1985 Hartwick graduate, McIntire gave a nod to Hartwick professors John Lindell (political science and international studies), Mary Vanderlaan (political science) and Sugwon Kang (constitutional law) as positive influences in his formative years. “There is a writing component involved in political science, and I found I liked research and writing,” he said, further noting, “Hartwick courses gave me a foundation, the Continued on page 7
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER EDDM PRESORT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ONEONTA PERMIT NO. 890