By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

Animal lovers can go big.

Animal lovers can demonstrate and prove their support of the local animal shelter by jumping in a lake — in the middle of the winter.

The 18th Annual Freezing for a Reason polar jump is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Harvest Hills Animal Shelter. The jump is scheduled to take place the Saturday after Valentine’s Day, Feb. 15, along with the Maine Lakes Winter Carnival.

This week, at the shelter, early registration has started and will run through Friday, Feb. 14. The shelter is located at 1389 Bridgton Road, in Fryeburg. People must preregister in person.

There is still time to register to participate in the fundraiser and to ask people to pledge money, according to HHAS Executive Director Joan McBurnie.

“I haven’t heard from somebody that it is hard for them to find donors, especially the young kids,” McBurnie said. “We have had kids as young as six years old raise quite a bit of money, from family members, from neighbors, from their own piggy banks.”

“It is a proud achievement to raise money for the shelter and jump in the lake,” she said. 

“Some people go on Facebook and ask friends. Some people make a GoFundMe page and raise donations that way. Everyone has their own niche for getting pledges,” she said. 

Pledge sheets and registration forms can be picked up at the shelter or downloaded from the HHAS website. Go to harvesthills.org and click mouse on Calendar of Events.

Got cold feet? Citizens can support the animal shelter by pledging to people who are planning to jump.

“It is such a community-oriented event. If you don’t want to jump, you can find someone and pledge money,” McBurnie said.

“I’ve heard there is a team from Aubuchon [Hardware] in Bridgton. I saw it on the marquee. I heard there is a Chalmer’s Insurance group jumping. I hear a lot through the grapevine of who is jumping,” she said. “It is surprising to see who actually shows up at the lake. There is always more people than what I heard.”

“There were people asking for our pledge sheets before Christmas. They wanted to strike while the iron is hot. And, they knew Christmas is when they’d be seeing family members,” she said.

Another group worth supporting is one of three veterinary clinics. 

“The Fryeburg Veterinary Hospital — they are our primary vet hospital. They get 90% of all our surgeries. They are our on-call vet hospital,” McBurnie said.

The employees are big supporters on jump day.

“It has been anywhere from 6 to 12 that they bring for a team. For them, too, it has become a family event. Some of the doctors bring their children and some of the doctors have their children jump with them,” she said.

“The other vet hospitals that jump like Bridgton Veterinary Hospital. They always come up with a cool theme. True North Vet Hospital in New Hampshire — they come up with a cool theme. They don’t tell me. I am always surprised,” she said.

Like the jumpers, McBurnie has long been an animal lover. She recalls her first pet, a Great Pyrenees which she named Lucky. Her first job at Harvest Hills was as volunteer dog walker.

“A friend and I would come and walk dogs on Saturday. The executive director at the time approached me and thought I would be very good at the job. She was only a temporary director, and she convinced me to apply for the job,” she said.

McBurnie has been the executive director for 19 years so she was a newbie when Freezing for a Reason started 18 years ago.

She described the countdown week to Freezin’ as a series of event in which it takes everyone in the community to pull it off.

“Daily until Feb. 14, we are doing preregistration. My hot tubs are being dropped off next week at the shelter,” she said.

“The town crew looks at the weather and decides the best day to put a hole in the ice. Without the town crew, there wouldn’t be a hole in the ice. We put bubblers in the water to keep the water open once the ice is cut. Sometimes, it is cut on Friday. But, they have cut it as early as a Wednesday. It all depends on the upcoming storms, on the weather,” she said. “The chamber makes sure the electricity is on so we can use the hot tubs and the pumps. The Bridgton Fire Department makes sure I have water for the hot tubs. The Bridgton Hospital donates the hazmat tent — that is used for people to change their clothes.”

The Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce “is there to help out since the Winter Carnival is coinciding with Freezing for a Reason,” McBurnie said. “It is everyone working together like an orchestra. It is really amazing.”