TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After a long night of present-delivering, Santa decided to do a little surfing in the cold cold waters of West Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City on Christmas day.
According to 9&10 News, he’s been surfing Michigan lakes in the wintertime for about five years. He’s also surfed on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
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He told the news outlet, “Just love this community, love the great lakes and actually love the winter!”
Frolicking in the cold Michigan waters and on the ice is something that many Michiganders look forward to in the wintertime and one of their favorites events is coming up in a few weeks. Houghton Lake’s 73rd Annual Tip Up Town USA festival will be here the weekend of January 21st.
Tip Up Town USA, which is Michigan’s largest and longest-running winter festival, includes an ice slide on the 21st, 22nd and 28th and a polar bear dip on the 28th.
The ice slide is just that – a slide with water sprayed so that it’s covered in ice (except the steps) with people of all ages participating.
The polar bear dip is an event that attracts many participants and spectators every year. People dress up in costumes (or just shorts) and jump into the icy cold lake in an area where a hole is cut out in the ice and the jumpers are under the watchful eyes of firefighters in wet suits in case something goes awry. The jumpers are also attached to some sort of rope held by firefighters as seen in some of the many videos online.
The Houghton Lake Chamber of Commerce office manager, Cindy Miller, says that because of a previous incident, they are asking people to wear appropriate, family-friendly costumes with “no private parts exposed.”
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The jump into the icy water starts at 1 pm on Saturday, January 28th but most people get in line long before that. The Facebook event page lists the sign-up beginning at noon, with participants having to be at least 18-years-old or 16 with a parent or guardian present. There is also a $10 entry fee per person.
Awards will be given out in the following categories: Best overall dip, best belly flop, best cannonball, best dressed, most creative dip, and oldest dipper. More rules and information can be found on the Facebook page cited above.
The Tip Up Town USA festival also has a tentatively-scheduled world record attempt coming up. Miller says that a gentleman contacted the Chamber to ask to attempt a Guinness World Record for the longest distance juggling on ice skates. Although the Chamber hasn’t heard back from him since the initial contact, they hope that he will still be attempting the record on Saturday, January 21st in the East Bay.
