A reason for the freezin'

First-ever Malta-Glasgow Polar Plunge held at Nelson Reservoir to raise funds for Special Olympians

January 25, 2017

Mark Hebert

Malta's Jerry Benge comes up for air during Saturday's Malta-Glasgow Polar Plunge at Nelson Reservoir, the first annual event. Benge was one of a handful of plungers on Saturday, all entering the frigid water to raise funds for Special Olympic Athletes, both at the State and local levels.

While most people joked, laughed and stayed warm while standing atop the frozen water of Nelson Reservoir on Saturday, another group of folks were perhaps a little apprehensive, if not just as jovial, as they were about to become very wet and very cold in the very near future.

"As far as I know, this is the first Polar Plunge in Phillips County," said Jerry Benge as he helped contestants enter the event. "Polar Plunges have been taking off all over the state in bigger cities and so we figured why let them have all the fun and let's let people on the Hi-Line get wet."

While bystanders poin...

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