Over 200 expected to take plunge
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT WRITER
With showers in the forecast and air temperatures expected to be in the low 50s, Thanksgiving morning looks to be as mild as can be expected.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Fully-fledged, like the event that bears its name, this turkey was spared the axe at Ray Owens' farm yesterday; Mr. Gobbler will be the official mascot at tomorrow's 6th Annual Turkey Plunge.

For the anticipated 200-plus people ready to take Thursday morning's sixth annual Turkey Plunge, however, water temperature is the most crucial factor. Harbor temperatures hovered in the low-to-mid-

40s on Monday morning.

Should it rain, it would be typical as the weather has been iffy at best ever since the first daring people dove into the water at Children's Beach six years ago.

For the hale and hearty Plungers, how- ever, weather is never an issue.

"Last year was almost a nor'easter, which proved people will show up no matter what the weather," Nantucket Atheneum director of development Bess Clarke said this week. "I used to watch the weather and panic, but I think people like the challenge."

It's all for a good cause, as the Turkey Plunge raises money specifically for the Nantucket Atheneum's Weezie Library for Children. Last year, 207 islanders took the plunge and signups are already ahead of that number.

This year's theme is "Freezin' for a Reason," and in past years those reasons have added up to annual donations in the $45,000 to $50,000 range, with some individual Plungers raising upwards of $3,000. Also helping the cause are over 40 island businesses who co-sponsor the event.

It was so cold for the first Plunge that scallopers weren't scalloping - the air was too frigid for the bivalves to survive. That didn't deter people then, and nothing has cancelled the Plunge, or dunkers' resolve, in the ensuing years.

Clarke, who with her sister-in-law Barbara Keane Clarke was instrumental in getting the Turkey Plunge up and running, said the first year, in retrospect, was perhaps the most challenging. "It was so beautiful out, with a bluebird blue sky, but it was excruciatingly cold - it was twenty degrees."

Clarke took the dip then, and has for every Plunge save for when she was pregnant. Turkey Plunge committee members can also be counted upon to take the dive. "It's a very dedicated committee," she said.

The Turkey Plunge has grown into a fullfledged tradition, as people crowd the beach either to swim or to cheer on those spirited enough to face the elements.

There's also a free breakfast for everyone who comes to the beach tomorrow morning, with coffee and breakfast pastries provided by Even Keel Café, Downyflake donuts and sticky buns made by Kendra Lockley of Simply with Style catering.

Part of the fun is in the costumes: from the beginning there have been swimming turkeys, and proceeding years have seen hospital workers wearing scrubs, men in their mothers' bathing suits and all sorts of message-bearing T-shirts. This year Atheneum staff, volunteers and trustees, many of whom will be taking the Plunge themselves, will set the atmosphere by wearing turkey hats.

There's even talk that a real turkey may show up. Whether he swims or not is another story.

As always, the Turkey Plunge is scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow, rain or shine. Plunge Packets can still be picked up through noon today at the Atheneum, Cowboy's Meat Market, Daily Breads, Even Keel Café, Nantucket Looms, Nantucket Community Pool and the Nantucket Health Club. Last minute Plungers can also sign

up at Children's Beach starting at 9 a.m. I