Jumpers: Cold feet, happy hearts

By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer

Following the plunge into Highland Lake in February, people who didn’t get cold feet commented how cold their feet got.

“You don’t get cold until you come out and it’s mostly your feet that are cold,” Kristin Whittaker said.

“But, what a fun event! It woke me up. I’ve been up since 3 a.m., driving from Connecticut, and I’m wide awake now,” she said.

Her family were all firsttime jumpers in Freezing For Reason, the annual fundraiser for Harvest Hills Animal Shelter.

Usually, it’s a different season (summer) when Whittaker visits her friends who live in Bridgton. This winter, Whittaker’s family traveled here to ski at Pleasant Mountain. They learned about the fundraiser and made a special trip to participate on Saturday.

“It was myself, my two children, my friend, and we had an extra Speedo person join us. He jumped twice because my son and him were both wearing Speedos,” she laughed.

Another group of friends and family were roundedup by a woman who hosts cold water, community dips in Portland. James was part of the group that was new to participating in the shelter’s fundraiser, but familiar with hopping in cold water.

“It was cold. My toes are freezing. That was the worse part,” James said.

“I’ve done dipping with her a few times. She has dragged me to some of those [cold water dips]. Then, I found out about this,” he said.

So, he raised money for the shelter to do something that is becoming a hobby.

Faye Warner, of Portland, explained how

JUMPERS, Page 3A

The Casco Board of Selectmen voted, 3-0-1, to formally allow the garage to be built on town-owned land.After all, the land was already intended to be used for Casco Days. Selectman Grant Plummer was absent; and Selectman Scott Avery recused himself since he is a member of the Casco Days Fair Association.

“What we are doing for Casco Days is making it so the next generation can operate it easily and smoothly,” according to Tom Mulkern.

“It is on the land already dedicated to Casco Days,” he said.

He provided anticipated ground-breaking and completion dates.

“We are looking at an April start for ground -