25th Annual Polar Bear Plunge
25th Annual Polar Bear Plunge
The State Corrections connection
While families and Special Olympics New Jersey( SONJ) plungers ran for cover from the rain up and down the boardwalk, there was no better place to take shelter than inside the State Corrections Local 105 extravaganza at the south end of the Seaside Heights boardwalk. The NJ State PBA’ s largest Local gathered at the Sawmill restaurant, which was filled with unlimited pizza slices, catchy tunes and carefree conversations among Local 105 members.
Since 2002, the Sawmill has become the corrections connection spot for Local 105. Each year, members mark their calendar for the Polar Bear Plunge and look forward to the rare occasion that brings together a unit that spans the length of New Jersey.
As the party took over the restaurant and overflowed onto the boardwalk, Local 105 President Brian Renshaw and State Delegate Raymond Heck stood back to take in the view of nearly 1,000 state corrections officers coming together in a stress-free environment.
“ A lot of our members don’ t get to see each other until events like this,” stressed Renshaw.“ It’ s a good time for people to get together, talk, exchange numbers and talk about the different facilities. It’ s a great way to build camaraderie.”
The fundraising and social aspect of the Polar Bear Plunge creates a win-win for Local 105 members, who together raised close to $ 15,000 for SONJ through an event that has proved to be one of the Local’ s biggest networking opportunities of the year.
“ Brian [ Renshaw ] has found a way to actually create events around the cause,” Heck noted.
Local 105 Vice President Sean Sprich takes pride in organizing the state corrections gathering each year with the Sawmill staff, who look forward to the large crowd’ s return for every Polar Bear Plunge. In addition to supporting such an important cause, Sprich knows how important it is for Local 105 members to have the opportunity to get to know one another outside of the correctional facilities.
“ For the past few hours that I’ ve been
32 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2018 here, no one has asked us about work or contracts,” he noticed.“ Everyone has problems at home or at work, but they’ re not talking about it. They’ re having a good time.”
The thriving attendance at the Sawmill was enough to show Local 105’ s unwavering support for Special Olympics athletes. But some members felt that their true blue would be best displayed by their unified splash into the ocean.
Brian Decker, better known as“ Macho Man” at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, shared his enthusiasm for
taking the plunge with his blue brothers and sisters for the second time.
“ We are not just jail guards, we are corrections officers and we are good people,” he remarked.“ We do everything in our power to support each other in the PBA and give back.”
First-time plunger David Bier was also confident that Local 105’ s presence on the beach would make waves once the Local 105 unit moved to the shoreline.
“ We’ re probably going to take over the beach when we get down there,” he predicted.“ That’ s usually what we do.” d