INNISFAIL – As Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Ihme’s teeth clattered uncontrollably just past the four-minute mark in a tub of ice, Gary Leith, laying in his own tub beside him, laid back with eyes closed and a slight and almost mischievous smile on his face.
Leith, the Town of Innisfail's director of protective services, might as well have been laying on a sunbathed Mexican beach.
When the five-minute mark came to end the plunge, Ihme burst out the tub with an initial look of sheer terror.
He raced over to the nearby soothing waters of a hot tub.
Leith followed with his same slight smile.
“I’m just in awe of those guys who can just go in there and just be calm. I am shivering like a baby,” said Ihme, the local detachment’s commanding officer. “I don't react so well to the cold water, but I keep coming back.”
Ihme and Leith were two of the 24 plungers ready to brave extreme physical and mental discomfort on March 15 at the 3rd annual Dark Woods Polar Plunge that was set up in front of Innisfail’s Dark Woods Brewing that is located along Main Street.
Once again it was a cold blustery day that added to the misery for all participants braving ice filled tubs.
But most importantly it was all for a good cause.
The event in 2025 is a fundraiser for the town’s Helping Hand Fund, which has been helping local kids participate in sports programs in the community since 1997.
For the event’s first two years, event organizers selected the Red Deer-based Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre as their chosen non-profit.
But this year and in 2026 all proceeds from the polar plunge will go local to the Helping Hand Fund.
For 2025, a total of $8,030 was raised, which was comparable to what was collected in 2024.
Nicole Pillman, a director with the Helping Hand Fund, said the longstanding fund is close to the hearts of Dark Woods’ co-owners Nick and Scott Bell as they are advocates for kids playing sports in the community.
“We help families that can't necessarily afford registration fees or equipment for their kids to do the activities they want to,” said Pillman, who also dared to take the plunge with her daughter Bradie, the manager at Dark Woods. “In the last year alone, we've helped over 30 families.”
Nick Bell started the event off at noon by taking the first polar plunge with his son Mason and the latter’s friend Dylan Visser.
“We had a great turnout. The community is getting behind it, and a lot more and more people are starting to take the plunge,” said Nick, noting the added extreme cold weather was appropriate for a polar plunge. “It was the coldest we've ever had.
“But there was a big turnout, and it's kind of a nice snowy day.”
