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Dippers Raise Cold, Hard Cash

January 07, 2009 - OLD ORCHARD BEACH -- Third-time Lobster Dipper Kathleen Chicoine had a plan: Just keep running.

Chicoine was among more than 200 hardy souls who welcomed the new year Thursday with a quick dip in the Atlantic Ocean to benefit the Maine Special Olympics.

"You get in the water and the hardest part is, you have to go totally under, so you have to keep running and running," said Chicoine, laying out her strategy just minutes before heading into the ice cold ocean, whitecaps visible in the distance.

Wearing a white terry cloth bathrobe and thick thermal socks, she posed for pictures on the snow-crusted beach with her son, 26-year-old Ryan, who also took part in the 21st annual Lobster Dip.

The sun was out, but the temperature was only about 18 degrees and a steady 20 mph wind made it feel like about 1 degree, according to the National Weather Service.

"Maybe, when it's this cold, the water will feel warmer," Chicoine mused.

The Lobster Dip bills itself as the original polar dip in Maine. It is one of several held during the winter to benefit causes ranging from domestic-abuse agencies to animal shelters.

Also held Thursday was the eighth annual Atlantic Ocean Plunge at Gooch's Beach in Kennebunk, benefitting Caring Unlimited, York County's domestic violence shelter; and the Boothbay Harbor Penguin Plunge, benefiting the Boothbay YMCA.

Last year, the Lobster Dip raised $45,000 for Maine Special Olympics, said the organization's president, Phil Geelhoed. Final figures on this year's event wouldn't be available until today, he said.

At Old Orchard Beach, brothers Travis and Trevor, 13 and 9 years old, were short, shivering bundles when they got out of the ocean. All around them, fellow dippers were either streaming into the nearby Brunswick Hotel to warm up or standing on towels on the beach as they quickly got into their clothes. "It was cold," Travis deadpanned, wrapped in a huge towel after his fourth Lobster Dip.

The brothers, both Boy Scouts, like doing the Lobster Dip because it benefits the Special Olympics and they know students who take part in the games. They raised $250 each this year.

"They relate to it," said their mother, Nanette, who hasn't ever joined them. "I tell them someone has to hold the towels," she said with a grin.

Getting into the high spirits of the Lobster Dip was a nine-person team in costumes and body paint lettering that spelled out: L-O-B-S-T-A-H L-B.

The "Lobster Pound" members are a group of friends and family members who get their costumes, flags and courage up at a big New Year's Eve party, then head to the beach for the Lobster Dip. This year they raised $2,700.

"I'm the Queen 'B'," shouted Heather Ross of Scarborough, pointing to the red "B" on her chest. Her long dark hair held back with a rhinestone "2009" tiara, Ross said it was her seventh time braving the New Year's Day waters.

The youngest team member, Kyle Dill, a 10-year-old sporting a red Santa Hat, gamely posed for pictures with the rest of the crew while eyeing the crowd at the edge of the water. It was his first time.

"Come on! Come on! Take the pictures, we've got to go jump in the water!" Ross hollered, down to her swimsuit and a smile.

A few snaps, and they were off.

By NOEL K. GALLAGHER, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 2, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford, Mid Coast


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