Go Jump In A Lake For A New Year's Splash!

By Alan Gionet

EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4)- There's one place where they love the ice and cold. The Evergreen Lake Plunge, cancelled last year because it was too warm, is a go for New Year's Day at noon.

The Plunge goes back about a dozen years as a New Year's Day tradition. People wear crazy outfits and brave the chill to ring in the New Year with style. This year marks a new effort to keep the Plunge going.

Always successful, the event was cancelled when the organization that ran it for years stepped away from events around the New Year at Evergreen Lake. That left a void.

CBS4's Alan Gionet, longtime emcee of the event, has been part of the effort with the Active 4 All organization to take over the Plunge to keep it going. The non-profit devotes money to the special needs program at Evergreen Parks and Rec known as INSPIRE as well as scholarships to help people pay for Rec District programs. Money raised helps those programs.

Don't fear the cold, advises Alan Gionet, there are heated changing areas and the event is full of warm spirits. Hundreds often take the plunge to start the New Year. In 2017, it was cancelled because of warm weather, but there's no chance of that this year.

There's still time to sign up online or at the lake on New Year's Day!

LINK: Evergreen Lake Plunge

Alan Gionet is anchor of CBS4 This Morning and reports on a wide variety of issues and "Good Question" stories. He started at CBS4 in 1994. Follow Alan on Twitter @AlanGTV or on Facebook.