Long Beach Polar Bear Splash for Make-A-Wish returns after chilly postponement
Swimmers make the dash into the chilly surf Sunday at the Long Beach Polar Bear Splash. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Neal Bernstein emerged from the icy surf and blew a kiss to the sky.
"I love you Hillary, this is for you," Bernstein, 72, said before hurrying to a towel amid temperatures in the low 40s on Sunday.
He was taking part in the annual Long Beach Polar Bear Splash in memory of his daughter, who died at age 20 after a struggle with muscular dystrophy.
The event, which began in 1998, has become a local tradition, raising more than $11 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation to organize uplifting experiences for children with critical illnesses. This year's plunge had been postponed from February due to frigid temperatures; swimmers "only" had to brave water in the high 30s or low 40s on Sunday. By the end, between 10,000 and 15,000 people had attended the event along the boardwalk, according to the organizers.
Bernstein, of North Bellmore, whose daughter was a Make-A-Wish recipient as a child, came with a group of about 20 young swimmers and their parents from Francis F. Wilson Elementary School in Rockville Centre, where Bernstein works as a security guard.
Graelyn Farley, 11, said she mentally steeled herself for the plunge.
"It was really cold, but it was really fun," said the fifth-grader, adding she came to support "Mr. Neal," who has helped students find many a lost music instrument, water bottle or other item at school.
What is now an annual mainstay began on a frigid winter day in 1998, when friends Kevin McCarthy and Pete Meyers took a swim.
"Kevin was going through a mid-life crisis — he was turning 40," Meyers, of Long Beach, said with a laugh on the Long Beach boardwalk Sunday. "Two people were jogging by and they go, ‘No … way,’ [seeing us] two fat … guys running into the water!"
"C’mon, we were physically fit back then!" protested McCarthy, who coached a youth basketball team with Meyers.
The following year, the two brought on Mike Bradley, of Lido Beach. Bradley was the father of one of their players and had lost a son, Paulie, who was 4 years old when he died of leukemia in 1997. The group turned it into a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish, collecting donations and selling "Long Beach Polar Bears" sweatshirts.
"And here we are, 26 years and $11 million later," Bradley said.
Caroline Ver Planck, of Make-A-Wish Metro New York, said the group has organized trips to Japan, Hawaii, the Caribbean and elsewhere.
Granting wishes not only brings joy, but can even help improve health trajectories, Ver Planck said.
"A lot of these kids get their choice taken away from them when they have to be in the hospital for so long. By getting a Make-A-Wish [grant], they're able to have that choice back," she said. "So it really is a part of the treatment plan."
Kerry Ann Troy, of Long Beach, said her son Connor, who had the muscular disease mitochondrial myopathy, received a Make-A-Wish to travel to Disneyworld in 2012, just months after the family lost their home in Superstorm Sandy.
"We didn't know at the time that it was going to be the last trip that we took with him," she said of Connor, who died in 2013. "He really was happier and healthier than we ever saw him."
'Out East' roundup: Macari Vineyards, Little Gull Cafe, Riverhead Farmers Market and antique cash registers NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits more unique spots in this week's 'Out East.'
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