North Iowa child inspires Polar Bear participants

Published by admin on Thu, 12/12/2013 - 1:03am

About 550 persons braved extremely cold temperatures and participated in a Polar Bear plunge into Clear Lake as part of Christmas By The Lake activities.

The 16th annual Polar Bear Club dip raised an estimated $21,000 for the North Central Iowa Make-A-Wish and Toys for Tots organizations.

The honor of being the first person to brave the cold conditions was a brave 10-year-old from Mason City.  Hayden Despenas, who was diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia in 2012, was carried on the back of a “Hayden’s Team” member into the water.  His start was followed by an enthusiastic group wearing neon green Hayden’s Hope T-shirts, who raced into the icy water.  Just like it did last year, Hayden’s Hope participants raised the most money for the event.  This year the group collected more than $6,000.

Clear Lake Mirror Reporter

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Clear Lake, IA 50428
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