Community Corner

Clinton Fire Department Members Take The Plunge In Madison

Madison Penguin Plunge Brings In More Than $69,000 For Special Olympics

The air was cold and the water even colder Saturday at noon when more than 300 people plunged into the water at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison to raise money for the Special Olympics of Connecticut.

Plunging in shifts of 25 people--so that dive teams, firefighters and emergency medical technicians outfitted in cold water diving dry suits could keep a close eye on everyone--the plungers ran in to the water and, quickly, back out again.

Some made it in only up to their knees, but Madison Police Dispatcher Todd Nelson and Police Officer Joseph Race went all in, taking a dive into the chilly waters of the sound. Nelson lost his grass hula skirt, but other than that both men seemed in good shape afterwards.

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Lisa Carlone, director of special events for Special Olympics Connecticut, said there were about 309 people who took the plunge Saturday, raising more than $69,000, including about $5,000 provided by sponsors. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you to everyone who did everything."

Carlone said event sponsors included The Madison Foundation, , Connecticut Water Company, WPLR, The Source, State Farm La-Torre Osterling Agency, and .

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Race and Nelson raised more than $1,600 as of Saturday afternoon, with Nelson ranked as one of the top fundraisers of the Madison event. Race called Nelson a "superstar fundraiser," adding that Nelson's skilled use of social media sites like Facebook helped the team raise money.

With the Mo Johnson band playing, people dancing, and hot food being served in the pavilion across from the Meigs Point Nature Center, the event had a festive air. Down near the water more than 20 divers from the Clinton Fire Department and Essex Divers Cove suited up and headed out into the water to form a perimeter around the people taking the plunge.

Debbie Miller, a firefighter with the Clinton Fire Department, said the temperature in the water was about 34 degrees. In water that cold, it takes only a minute or two for hypothermia to start setting in. Most plungers, however, were in for only a matter of seconds before they ran back out and up the beach, many of them screaming all the way.


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