Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
With a short burst of warm weather last week, the thickness of the ice has decreased on lakes and waterways, but not enough to put a stop to a Heikinpäivä tradition.
“I jumped! It was, it was fun, it was awesome. I don’t know what the word for it is—exhilarating. I figured if I’m the Hankookin Heikki, I’d better jump.” The temperature was cold and windy, but that did not stop Kristen Ojaniemi and over 60 other tenacious souls from jumping into the frigid waters of the Portage Canal, willingly.
“Attendance was great this year. We had probably almost double what we had two years ago, but this year we had at least 70 is what I’ve heard,” said Ben Bartosh of Phi Kappa Tau, the fraternity hosting what’s known as the Polar Plunge, a Heikinpäivä tradition that was skipped last year because of unsafe ice conditions but returned to the festival on Saturday after a thumbs up decision following an examination of the ice.
Bartosh said, “The Finnish Heritage Committee was kind of letting us take the reigns on it this year so we can kind of put our name out there and do something good for the Hancock Community that we live in.”
If all your friends were jumping in an icy canal, would you do it too?
“I have done the dive myself. It’s very cold!,” said Bartosh.
Ojaniemi said, “I just want to tell everyone to come to Heikinpäivä next year because it was a lot of fun and it was a great way to enjoy the winter.”
The day started with family activities on the Quincy Green, the annual parade through downtown Hancock, and a series of games and prizes at the Finish American Heritage Center before the crowd migrated to the canal to watch the Keweenaw’s bravest.
Bartosh said, “I just want to thank everyone for coming out today for the Polar Plunge and come see our statue in a week and a half for Winter Carnival. It’s going to be great!”
More Heikinpäivä activities are scheduled through February 6th. For more information visit www.finnishamericanreporter.com.
