‘Balmy’ weather boosts numbers for Portsmouth Polar Dive

PORTSMOUTH — Juan Carlos Payero has taken part in many New Year’s Day polar plunges over the years, including one on Staten Island in sub-freezing temperatures, but Tuesday’s was his first in Portsmouth.

With the thermometer reading a relatively balmy 57 degrees, it was also his easiest.

“This is going to be a piece of cake,” Mr. Payero said minutes before running into the waters at Island Park beach along with a couple of hundred other participants.

Perhaps due to the warm weather, Tuesday’s turnout was perhaps the best ever, with cars parked halfway up Park Avenue and Boyds Lane. It was in stark contrast to last year's dive, which went on despite a R.I. Department of Health warning of dangerously cold temperatures that could have put participants in peril.

As participants have done in previous years, they were diving for dollars. The beneficiary of this year’s fund-raiser was the Portsmouth Historical Society, which is making major improvements to its museum building at the corner of East Main Road and Union Street.

Event organizer John Vitkevich told Society members over the summer that the Portsmouth Business Association would be sponsoring the nonprofit for this year’s event, said Historical Society President Jim Garman.

Cash donations were accepted on the beach, while raffle tickets were sold during a post-dive party at Tremblay’s Island Park Cafe (also known as the “Island Park Civic Center,” according to Mr. Vitkevich).

“We’re really thrilled about it,” Mr. Garman said. “As you know, we have many great activities going on in our organization, and all the money we get helps.”

The extra funds are needed now more than ever, he added.

“We just spent a lot of money on construction at the museum, a new security system, new gutters, repairs, and so on. We still have more to do, so we want to keep things moving,” Mr. Garman said.

Once the renovations are complete, the Society can focus more on its true mission, he said.

“I’m trying to get back more into history, rather than new shingles and sockets,” Mr. Garman joked.

For more on what you can do to support the Portsmouth Historical Society, go here.