{"id":126247,"date":"2026-02-28T20:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/126247\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:30:08","slug":"plunging-with-purpose-for-special-olympics-at-montage-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/126247\/","title":{"rendered":"Plunging with Purpose for Special Olympics at Montage \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCRANTON \u2013 Jessica Sowansky was taking an icy plunge for a good cause Saturday for the third time.<\/p>\n

Sowansky, a Sheetz district manager, was joined by 11 of her co-workers for the frosty effort, as a team in Special Olympics Pennsylvania\u2019s Northeast Polar Plunge at Montage Mountain Resorts.<\/p>\n

\"DJDJ Dan Wineman, enjoying time between tunes Saturday at the annual Polar Plunge at Montage Mountain on Feb. 28, 2026. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n

Looking back on past plunges, Sowansky remembered the dread that came with waiting for the team\u2019s turn to plunge.<\/p>\n

But, once you hear your team\u2019s name called, the adrenaline rush sets in, and the plunge itself is easy, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all hold hands,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then there are high fives all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A polar bear greets attendees of the annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics on Saturday. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/p>\n

Students from Western Wayne High School take the plunge Thursday as part of a Polar Plunge event at Montage to benefit the Special Olympics, (SUBMITTED)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 2<\/p>\n

A polar bear greets attendees of the annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics on Saturday. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, the team handed out free coffee, hot chocolate, and other treats to participants and other attendees of \u201cPlunge Town,\u201d as organizers called it.<\/p>\n

Northeast Region Executive Director Heather Schreiner called the nearly 50-degree weather \u201cperfect\u201d for Saturday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

In addition to the plunge itself, a party atmosphere prevailed, with a DJ, games, the Chicken Dance and other activities.<\/p>\n

Several organizations were on hand to provide information and free giveaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a nice way for a family to spend an afternoon,\u201d Schreiner said.<\/p>\n

About 200 people participated in Saturday\u2019s plunge, raising over $100,000.<\/p>\n

The money, which stays local, helps provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.<\/p>\n

Those activities, she said, offer opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, 16 schools participated in a similar polar plunge, with 700 students enthusiastically jumping into the water, in costumes that ranged from bright yellow bananas to hula girls.<\/p>\n

Abington Heights topped the fundraising, having raised over $14,000 as of Saturday.<\/p>\n

How polar is the plunge? The water is usually a few degrees warmer than the air. A 4-feet-deep pool, large enough for eight to 10 people, is carved from snow and fitted with a pool liner.<\/p>\n

For information, see SpecialOlympicsPA.org<\/a> and for the Northeast Region, visit specialolympicspa.org\/region-4-home<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2013 Jessica Sowansky was taking an icy plunge for a good cause Saturday for the third time.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179],"class_list":["post-126247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}