HOLLAND – As light snow fell amid a wind chill of only 23 degrees, dozens of people, mostly in shorts and many shirtless, gathered at the edge of the pond at Homecoming Park on New Year’s Day.
As it neared 1 p.m., the “splashers,” as Springfield Township trustee Andy Glenn affectionally calls them, waited in anticipation for him to give the signal that it was time to descend into the frigid water.
Then, at exactly 1, Glenn exclaimed “Happy New Year,” raised his arms in celebration and joined the pack as they rushed in and out of the pond to kick off the 5th annual Springfield Splash, an event which lasted about five minutes.
After the brisk plunge, the splashers, wrapped in blankets and towels, mingled for about 30 minutes with family and friends to share their experience of what it was like to dive into extreme cold pond water on the first day of the new year.
One of those splashers was Springfield Township resident Butch Boulton, joined in the water by his grand-dog, Grizzy, a female chocolate lab.
Boulton said this was his fourth time to partake in the splash so he now considers it a tradition, and that it “cleanses the old year and brings in the new year. And it’s cold!” he added with emphasis.
Wrapped in a fluffy white blanket, Brenna Koback described her fifth Springfield Splash as “exhilarating,” and a good example of mind over matter.
“Think of when you say you can’t do things and then when you do, you’ve over-accomplished,” she said, feeling quite accomplished.
Glenn said he started jumping into the Maumee River on New Year’s Day in 2011, but after several cancellations and site relocations of Waterville’s historic polar plunge over the years, Glenn made the decision that Springfield needed their own polar plunge so he founded the Springfield Splash in 2020.
“It’s been awesome and it’s growing every year,” he proclaimed. “I think it’s a great event, and we want to do more things with it next year, like tie in either a charity or scholarship fundraiser. We’re still talking about all that, but yeah, we want to grow this into a big event for Springfield.
“Listen, I hate being cold,” he added. “I never thought I’d be doing anything like this in my life, but I’m telling you that if you do it once – you’ll be back the next year to do it again.”
Another Springfield Township trustee who braved the splash was Tom Anderson, Jr., who agreed that in future years the splash will be a great way to raise money for a scholarship or the swim team.
“It’s a good, fun way to get the community together,” he said.
“It’s really a good time. As you can see,” he added as he gestured to those still milling around, “everybody was smiling and laughing and that’s what it’s about. Happy New Year!”
