Annual Frosty Frolic raises money for California schools
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter.
Madison Willson dresses up as the “Monongahela Monster” at Saturday’s Frosty Frolic in Coal Center.
Walter MacFann, the president of the California Area School District Foundation, quickly gets out of the Monongahela River Saturday after participating in the Frosty Frolic.
COAL CENTER – It’s not jumping in the water on a winter’s day that’s hard, Ashley Roth discovered. It’s how you feel when you emerge into the cold air.
“The hardest part is getting out,” she exclaimed, dripping wet after leaping into the Monongahela River Saturday at the Coal Center wharf.
Roth was among the participants in the Frosty Frolic, the annual fundraiser that benefits the California Area School District Foundation. Roth was one of about 50 people who signed on to jump in the river when it’s typically comfortable only for coldwater fish. She was with a team from the Village Early Childhood Education Center in California, and they all took part as a “team-building” exercise.
Though Saturday met the “frosty” designation, it wasn’t quite as chilly as last year or previous years. The air temperature was just a notch below freezing at 31 degrees, while the water was a comparably toasty 41 degrees. In 2019, a dunking tank replaced the jump into the Mon after flood waters damaged the docks in Coal Center and subzero wind chills swept through the region a few days before.
Nevertheless, the water “was a lot colder than I thought it would be,” said Joe Wincko of Bethel Park, as he was running to a warming tent Saturday.
Now in its seventh year, the Frosty Frolic was expected to raise about $8,000 for the foundation this year, with proceeds going toward scholarships and grants for students and teachers in the school district.
Walter MacFann, the president of the foundation and organizer of the Frosty Frolic, is a veteran when it comes to jumping into frigid waters, and noted the best strategy is to “jump in with clothes that don’t retain water and get out quickly.”
MacFann was dressed as Captain Kirk from the original “Star Trek” series, and other participants also donned costumes. Madison Willson of Belle Vernon dressed as the “Monongahela Monster,” taking a note from the Loch Ness Monster and other legends, and others honored Groundhog Day by sporting stovepipe hats.