The frigid temperatures didn’t bother hundreds of people in Pittsburgh, who started their new year by splashing into the icy cold waters of the Monongahela River.<\/p>\n
First thing in the morning on New Year’s Day at age 65, Anne Cornwell of Murrysville was about to do something she’s never done before — jumping into the river at the Mon Wharf.<\/p>\n
“Checking off my bucket list,” Cornwell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was getting ready to feel a shock to her system by splashing into the Monongahela River.<\/p>\n
“I’m hoping it’s like jumping in the ‘fountain of youth,” Cornwell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before it was time, some weren’t too sure they made the right choice.<\/p>\n
“I’m really regretting my decisions today,” Rebecka Autore, who lives in Bloomfield, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, for many, like Frank Nelson, president of the Pittsburgh Polar Bear Club, it’s a tradition for him that goes back 61 years.<\/p>\n
“It’s like washing away your past and starting all over again,” Nelson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 9:30 a.m., it was time to take the plunge in the 35-degree water, with 16 degrees in the air, not including wind chills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They took a quick dip to reset, with some stepping out to find icicles on their beards.<\/p>\n
“It like awakens you up, it makes you feel alive, you feel great about the new year,” William Galbreath of Pulaski said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe after those seconds in the river, Cornwell felt just a little bit younger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m going to do it again. Hopefully, it will be warmer next year,” Cornwell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The event benefits the Salvation Army, supporting those in need with warm winter gear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The frigid temperatures didn’t bother hundreds of people in Pittsburgh, who started their new year by splashing into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,4508],"class_list":["post-75857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-salvation-army"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75857","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=75857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}