Dozens make annual New Year’s Day plunge into Ohio river

WATERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Dozens of people have repeated an annual New Year’s Day tradition by plunging into Ohio’s Maumee River near Toledo.

The Blade reports (https://bit.ly/2isUEwd) that at least 100 people participated in the polar bear plunge in suburban Waterville Sunday.

The event is held each January 1 in honor of the late Herb Mericle, a Waterville resident who did it for many years at exactly 2:30 p.m.

The newspaper says Mericle chose the time because that’s when he was married on Jan. 1, 1929. Mericle died in 2008.

Seasonably mild temperatures that hit 40 degrees helped boost the number of participants, though turnout has been strong in years when it was much colder.

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Information from: The Blade, https://www.toledoblade.com/