Many brave cold dip in Parker for New Year tradition
PARKER — Lori Dick looked nervously at the ice floating down the Allegheny River on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 1, 2022, but she was determined not to lose a dare with a friend.
The Parker native had seen the Polar Plunge take place for years on the river, but New Year’s Day 2023 would be her first time taking the plunge, alongside several of her friends who wanted to check another item off their bucket lists.
Despite the promise of a frigid dip Sunday, Dick said it was then or never.
“I had seen this happen but never had the guts to do it until now,” Dick said.
The Parker Polar Plunge returned Sunday afternoon after a two-year hiatus. Shelly Kaltenbach, a recruiter for UFP Industries in Parker, which sponsors the plunge, said the event is the biggest to take place in the borough all year since it began in 2006.
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