Hundreds charged into the slightly-warmer-but-still-chilly Boston Harbor early Sunday afternoon, in an annual event raising funds to support programs along the harbor coast all summer long.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, this is one of the best years,\u201d said Save the Harbor, Save the Bay Executive Director Chris Mancini. \u201cWe got so lucky with the weather. It\u2019s just cold enough to feel like you did something brave, but not so cold this was a misery. Last year was 18 degrees when we went in. That was the worst. But people seemed good now, I could tell from the smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 16th annual Shamrock Splash, a polar plunge from East Boston\u2019s Constitution Beach put on by Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, raised money for the Better Beaches Grant Program to plan free summer events and programs across beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s event included music on the beach, chowder from the Daily Catch, lawn games, a costume contest and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn March 9, this is probably the best weather you can get, so we\u2019re very lucky in that sense,\u201d first-time polar plunger Miriam ElKorchi said, before adding she was in \u201cnot long\u201d but went up to her shoulders.<\/p>\n
Standing in the cloudy, warmer weather, ElKorchi said she came out with a group to support the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn kind of a serious note, I was like, there\u2019s a lot of bad stuff happening in the world, and I wanted to support a worthy cause,\u201d said ElKorchi. \u201cJust stuff that\u2019s local.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grace VanValey, who\u2019s participated for six years, said \u201cit\u2019s a fun shock, and then you\u2019re jazzed for the rest of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we woke up, and it was pouring rain, and I think it was 12 degrees with wind chill, just kind of miserable,\u201d said VanValey. \u2026 \u201cI think the most fun part is after; everyone\u2019s exhilarated and wants to hang. And last year, it just wasn\u2019t that. But this year, it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several people commented on the \u201cimpressive\u201d costumes, noting the contest winner was dressed as Rose from Titanic, complete with the door she clings to in the water.<\/p>\n
First-timer Laura Jacobs Beal said she the experience was a good surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was gonna be terrible, but it really was quite fun,\u201d said Jacobs Beal, standing on the beach after the run. \u201cI felt great after. I was like, I could do this more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mancini said the water \u201cfelt pretty good\u201d and is \u201calways worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization was founded 40 years ago, Mancini said, when Boston had \u201c300 million gallons of sewage a day, untreated, going into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have the cleanest urban beaches in the country, here in Boston, which a lot of people don\u2019t realize,\u201d Mancini said. \u201cSo we started these programs to tell people that, and gradually evolved that so that you could break down barriers, who wasn\u2019t going to the beach, and you could really help celebrate the really diverse cultures that we have here in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Better Beaches grant program supported nearly 200 events last year with over $300,000, according to the organization, expanding partnerships and creating programming for multilingual, queer, disabled and more communities in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour summer calendar is about to be booked with free beach events,\u201d said Maya Smith, Save the Harbor, Save the Bay\u2019s director of partnerships and program development. \u201cIf you go to savetheharbor.org you can find free events almost every day. And again, we\u2019re spanning the entire coast of Boston Harbor, from Lynn all the way down to Hull. There\u2019s always something free, painting classes, workout classes, crafting groups. Anything that could tickle your fancy and bring you to the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a92026 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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