New Year’s Day saw Brackett’s Landing North packed cheek-to-jowl between the jetty and the ferry landing as an estimated 500 intrepid Polar Bear Plungers prepared to wash off the remains of 2021 and begin a fresh 2022, renewed by a dip in the frigid waters of Puget Sound.

This annual New Year’s Day baptism began in 2008 when Daphne’s Bar owner Brian Taylor hatched the idea over a few beers with friends. Having participated in similar New Year’s Day plunges in other places he’d lived, Taylor thought it was high time to bring the tradition to Edmonds. Attracting a loyal — but small — following at the outset, the event grew over the years, with the Saturday’s plunge attracting hundreds of participants from across the region.

The event traditionally begins with Uplift Society members (if you say you’re a member, you are) gathering at Daphne’s Bar for a little pre-plunge prep — downing a few ice-cold Rainiers, the official Uplift Society beverage. Participants then raise their voices in a chorus of “God Bless America” before marching down Main Street, onto the beach at Brackett’s Landing, and at the sound of the beachmaster’s whistle into the chilly waters of Puget Sound.

Inspired by an iconic photo from the Edmonds Historical Museum of the Edmonds Uplift Society — a Prohibition-era drinking club — Taylor and the other event founders adopted the name as Polar Bear Plunge sponsor. To make things even more official, they purchased matching white terrycloth robes with “Edmonds Uplift Society” embroidered on the back, and with each succeeding year the new date was embroidered on the front. As the event grew, keeping up with robes and annual embroidery became too much of an effort, and the tradition was dropped. But even today some old-time polar plungers keep their robe embroidery current, and proudly show up every New Year’s Day to participate.

Some years ago, the Edmonds Historical Museum provided a framed print of the Uplift Society photo to Daphne’s, and ever since it has hung in a place of honor above the bar. In recognition of this and as a way to say thank you, each year Taylor presents a check to the Museum, which in recent years has been matched by Salish Sea Brewing’s Jeff and Erika Barnett.

This year’s very special Polar Plunge guest was Daphne Loney, a former employee and friend of Taylor, and the person for whom Daphne’s Edmonds is named.

“I tended bar for about a year and half for Brian at his Brooklyn, New York bar The Pencil Factory,” she explained. “We became friends, and when he opened his place in Edmonds he asked me if he could use my name. I was so honored!”

Loney lives in New Orleans now, but made the trek to Edmonds solely to participate in Saturday’s Polar Bear Plunge.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel