“We met on Facebook and just became friends this morning,” Olason said.
They were far from alone.
New Year’s Day polar plunges popped up all around La Conner on Jan. 1 as cold-water dippers jumped into the Swinomish Channel and Skagit Bay, including at Martha’s Beach. Air temperatures stayed wintry, water temperatures hovered in the mid-40s and the gray-day ritual drew cheers, laughter and plenty of shivers as people welcomed 2026 with a bracing start.
The Shelter Bay Social & Recreation Committee hosted its third annual Polar Plunge at Martha’s Beach drawing about a half-dozen dippers and a much larger crowd of well-wishers on shore.
Around the same time, Mike Scaringe, Maia Tekle, Wendy Hubenthal and Dorothy Downes jumped into the Swinomish Channel, a nod to the town’s long-ago Seal Club tradition.
Later in the day, Ryan Coonc, partner Desiree Richards and daughters 11-year-old Aubree Cravy and 6-year-old Brielle Coonc waded in without much hesitation and walked out smiling.
“It wasn’t bad once you started walking into it,” Richards said. “We’ll do it again next year!”
Shelter Bay’s committee members said the plunge fits their bigger mission of building friendships and community spirit through year-round gatherings from holiday picnics and meals to bingo nights and women’s breakfasts. The event also drew people from outside Shelter Bay, including La Conner resident John Leaver, a former town councilor and planning commissioner who crossed the Rainbow Bridge to join in.
“Look at these crazy people,” Leaver joked, including himself.
And back at Martha’s Beach, Hagen and Olason stood with their new friendship and their New Year’s Day nerves surrounded by cheers, cold air and that shared moment that makes people laugh at themselves — and then do it anyway.
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
