Pottstown Polar Bears start the year in wet and wild fashion (Video and Photos)

POTTSTOWN — More than 75 brave souls urged on by a crowd of over 250 started their New Year by plunging into the silty Schuylkill River on New Year’s Day.

This is now the 15th year for the Pottstown Polar Bear Plunge and it has grown in size and popularity, drawing swimmers, or at least “dippers,” from across the region, including as far away as the Lehigh Valley.

Beth and Brett Schutter came all the way from Catasauqua and were joined by Sophia Medei from Walnutport for their decidedly damp start to the new year.

“We want to start the New Year with a sense of adventure,” said Brett Schutter. “Last year, we did this in Ocean City,” added Beth.

Medei was more sanguine. “I didn’t have anything else to do,” she said.

After a popular version of the Star Spangled Banner, the larger-than-average crowd of plungers made its way down to the water’s edge.

There, Michael Lenhart, who as director of the Parks and Recreation Department has become a practiced master of ceremonies, used his megaphone to outline the rules (basically, don’t wander out into the strong current and veterans should help first-timers) and to lead the countdown.

And off into the water they splashed, perhaps in a foreshadowing of how they will approach the year yet to come — some charging boldly, others clinging to loved ones, and some with the most tentative of steps.

As always, some chose to start their year in costume, including Greg and Jordin Longacre of Pottstown, who decided to start their year by wearing plushy toilet plungers on their heads.

Not surprisingly, the amount of time plungers spend in the river is as brief as the water is brisk. Some last barely a minute, the more robust among them a bit longer — but not much.

Many, likely veterans plungers, come prepared with a support person who has a towel and, often, a change of clothes at the ready.

But Dan Kurtas of Pottstown and George Albright of Stowe seemed undisturbed after climbing out the river, chatting and catching up in the 40-plus degree air, having emerged from the body of water that was significantly colder.

Susan Westington of Collegeville and Chris Drucquer of Pottstown on the other hand quickly made their way to the huge bonfire lit and monitored by members of the Pottstown Fire Department.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” said Westington, who is a first-time plunger. “I had thought I might pass out.”

David Ahakinian of Douglassville also took the plunge for the first time.

“It was quite bracing,” he said as he enjoyed the warmth of the bonfire. “I mean I’ve taken cold showers before, but this was on a bit of a different level. It seems like a good way to start the New Year. I think I’ll do it again next year.”

Not everyone enjoying the fire was drying off from a dip into the river. Breon Waller of Pottstown brought his 4-year-old daughter Avalynn McCarthy to see the spectacle. “She was hoping she might see Santa,” he said.

Well, it IS Pottstown, so you never can tell.