Happy 2017! Now, jump into this cold lake...

The Sunday afternoon air temperature at Long Lake Park in Lacey was 37 degrees, while the water temperature was one degree warmer.

That’s what confronted 475 people, about half of whom decided to jump or walk into the water as part of the 2017 Polar Bear Plunge. The event, which started 32 years ago at Capitol Lake in Olympia, has now been held in Lacey for 10 years.

And the city of Lacey didn’t miss a beat: There was hot chocolate and energizing rock music, as well as the customary participation of Lacey Fire District 3 and Long Lake park lifeguards.

Meanwhile, people began trickling in about noon, most wearing their bathing suits under their clothes, plus some who showed up in costume as they do every year. Roger Cummings, who had won the right to do Sunday’s countdown to the 1 p.m. plunge, showed up dressed as an arctic explorer, complete with three trout on a hook.

There also were celebrity sightings: Lacey City Councilman Michael Steadman participated in his fifth plunge, while plunge founder David Sederberg was back for more fun.

Another person dressed as a gorilla and Kristin Korvell, 30, of Olympia, who was participating in her sixth plunge, came dressed as a banana — the top banana, she explained. Asked why she wanted to be a banana, she replied, “Why not?”

She was joined by her father, John Korvell, 66, who wore a fake beard. He said it was warmer with it on.

Asked why he was back to get cold and wet, he replied, “Why not?”

But this year, Kristin Korvell, vowed to jump in from the dock (she did), rather than walk into the water because the latter approach was too hard. When you leap from a dock, you are committed, she said.

Three waves of people jumped in at 1 p.m., and many seemed to get out of the water faster than this reporter could recall. Many said it was warmer this year than last year. But was it? The chill created by the wind certainly did not help.

Long Lake Park slopes down to the waterline. One man stood at the top of the hill and admitted that the “wind was telling him not to do it.”

Organizers always remember a musical artist who died the previous year and play their music. This time it was Prince and the apt “Let’s go crazy.”

This story was originally published January 1, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Happy 2017! Now, jump into this cold lake...."