What would New Year’s Day be like without jumping in freezing cold water?
Not much, according to Walter Goedecke, the man who’s been organizing the Boulder Polar Bear Club Ice Plunge for the past 13 years.
At noon on New Year’s Day, as many as 600 people gather at the Boulder Reservoir and jump in. And that’s the easy part. Getting it organized, that’s hard.
“Personally, I’m getting tired,” says Goedecke. “It’s not easy. And the city doesn’t seem to like the event.”
Goedecke says before anyone can jump into the ice water, he has to jump through a lot of hoops with police, insurance, volunteers, permits, reservoir rent, emergency vehicles – well, the list goes on. And so will the plunge. At least this year.
“I’ve done this for so many years, someone else needs to run it,” Goedecke says, sounding cold. “Typically I don’t have much of a Christmas anymore.”
Go to boulderpolarbearclub.org if you want some new responsibilities.
Calendar girls
In Denver, we eat. In the hills, they take off their clothes. That’s what you’d think looking at three 2007 calendars.
KTUN radio, The Eagle in Avon, has put out a calendar featuring pix of mostly naked dames who live in Summit County. “Women Who Rock the Rockies 2007” features Olympic skier Sarah Schleper on the cover with a sweater barely covering her. Other listeners are pictured in various states of undress.
For the sixth year, the Vail Valley Charitable Fund has issued its “Vail Undressed Calendar” – with revealing shots of locals like Nicole Stuart, Terri Glasser and Toph Leonard.
Here in Denver, the Food Bank of the Rockies (which Wednesday received a $1 million gift from the Gary Magness Family Foundation) has issued a “Food for Thought Calendar.” The day tracker features pics of restaurant dishes (with recipes) from Trinity Grille, Rocky Mountain Diner, Strings, Rock Bottom, Cherry Cricket, Gaetano’s Italian and others.
The ‘Boo
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal gives you the lowdown on the Caribou Club, Aspen private den of privilege for the see-and-be-seen gang.
Memberships run $3,000 per couple, with a $2,000 annual fee. You can get a $500 weekly membership, ooops, make that $1,500 over the Christmas holidays. It’s not cheap being rich.
City spirit
Rockbar is open both Christmas Eve and Christmas Night for a White Trash Christmas Party … Brookfield Properties hosted a farewell party at Duffy’s Tuesday for the former owners, the Lombardi Bros., and staff. It was catered with gourmet sliders. Ken Lombardi said he missed the place – well, at least the people. So he sang Elvis songs. Mayor Hick spoke. Gov.-elect Ritter even slipped in … Sez who: “Dogs lead a nice life. You never see a dog with a wristwatch.” George Carlin
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-820-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at denverpostbloghouse.com/husted
