January 2007
Building a Tradition
The Lakeview Polar Bear Club's 6th Annual: "Celebration of Shrinkage" was a huge success!! Okay, I realize that Mother Nature threw a monkey wrench at us, but we dodged it and had a fantastic time down at the beach.
This year's event took place on Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at Oak Street Beach. We had a great turnout of friends, family, new members, and for the first time in LPBC history, the media decided to join us. For those of you who don't know, ABC, NBC, and FOX news all met us down at the lake and joined in the fun. We also had a photographer from the Tribune, a field reporter from WBBM, and a journalist for New City and an editor from Midwest Real Estate News. I think the media is starting to realize that we might be the most important organization in the history of Chicago. Okay, maybe not the most important, but it is very exciting to see people take notice of the good things that are going on.
2007 LPBC Co-Champs: Brian Endres & Mike Monaghan
As I said earlier, Mother Nature was angry that day. The lake was frozen, but fourteen brave souls decided to join the mix for our SIT IN. Instead of going in the water, we had a contest to see who could sit on the ice for the longest. Sounds easy enough, but that's because you didn't do it. After 27 minutes of butt-numbing fun, Mike Monaghan and Brian Endres got up as Co-Champions.
UPDATE: I am sad to announce that on Feb. 6th, Sherri lost her battle with Leukemia. Sherri was a brave woman who has touched the lives of so many people. She will be greatly missed. She leaves behind her husband, Scott, and their 9-year old son, Ryan. Now more than ever, the Prestangen's need our support.
THANK YOUs: Before we go any further, there are a lot of people I need to thank. First of all, Diane and Alan Treuthart spearheaded this whole effort for the Prestangen's. We should all be lucky enough to have friends like them. I would like to thank Michael Millar for his great PR work. There is a reason that this is the first year that the media showed up at our event - it's Michael. (I am working on a separate page that shows all the publicity that we received this year, but it is still off in the distance a little bit.) I want to thank all of our corporate sponsors - most of which are listed down below. They all took a chance with a small organization like the LPBC and we are so appreciative of their support. I would also like to thank my beautiful girlfriend, Patricia MacHannaford. She did so many behind the scenes tasks and took many of the pictures that are linked to this site. Patricia - you are amazing. Next up is my family - my parents, my brother Kevin, my cousin Marc and all my cousins who have come in the past. Without you all, the LPBC is just a pipe dream. I would also like to thank the First Romanian Fundamentalist Baptist Church for allowing us to donate to them again. Your help has meant so much to us. Finally, I would like to thank everyone who came down to the beach, came to the party at Galway Bay, bought a raffle ticket,or donated to the Prestangen's. It is because of all of you that this event keeps going and hopefully is getting bigger and bigger. I appreciate everyone's help and support and let's hope that the 7th Annual: Celebration of Shrinkage is even bigger and better.
