Douglason Residents to Take On Frigid New Year's Fundraiser

A group of Douglaston residents will take the plunge into icy waters tomorrow morning at the Douglas Manor pier to raise money for a local ambulance corps.

Douglas Montgomery, vice president of the Douglaston Garden Club, and a small group of community members will take a New Year's dip in Little Neck Bay at 10:15 a.m.

For the past five years, Montgomery and his friends have braved the freezing waters of the bay on Jan. 1. This year, the group will swim to raise money for the Little Neck Douglaston Community Ambulance Corps.

"They are in dire need of funding," Montgomery said. "They are struggling. The ambulance corps is an integral part of the community."

Montgomery said there are currently seven or eight Douglaston residents who have committed to the jump and that he is attempting to draw others. Each person is donating $50 to the ambulance corps.

He said he hopes to bring out as many as 30 people for the 2012 swim.

"Last year, when we went in, it was 29 degrees and froze over the next day," he said. "We're always lucky that we've never had to go through ice. But we won't stay in long. When you go under water, you can't even breathe."

The participants will take warm showers following the swim and then head over to the Douglaston Club for a brunch.

Tom Carty, a Douglaston resident who is jumping into the bay for the second year in a row, said that the decision to turn the event into a fundraiser made it more worthwhile.

"It will turn our stupidity into something positive," he said. "But it's a pretty good time. I just want to make sure I'm not the first one to get out."

The Douglas Manor pier, which is a favorite swimming hole for the community during the summertime, is located at Shore Road and Beverly Road.