We had so much fun at the 2002 Jan's Fans Event, we
decided to attend the 2003 event as well. This year's event was
held on the weekend of April 6th. My wife Michele and I
packed up the barefoot gear and our now 18 month old daughter Kathryn and
hopped a plan to Chicago. The goal was same as the year
before. Visit family and friends
on Friday and Saturday, then spend Sunday barefooting in the cold water
of the Fox River out in St. Charles, IL. In
2002, Mother Nature blessed us with a weekend in Chicago with unseasonably
warm sunny weather of around 75-80 degrees. This year, she decided
to go the other way. The high temperate day of the event was a
balmy 31 degrees. The water temp was around 40 degrees. I
don't think I've ever barefooted in such cold conditions. It 2002
people were running around in shorts and t-shirts, but this year the
clothing consisted of down jackets, hats and gloves.
Despite the cold, I was amazed by the total
number of people that showed up to participate in the Walk for MS.
Tom Hart told me that the colder it gets, the more skiers he sees coming
out. They all want to claim bragging rights for skiing in the
coldest conditions. That just confirmed to me that barefooters are
a crazy crew to hang with.
The goal is to barefoot past the crowd standing on
the shore-line. Just a 10-15 second run resulted in totally numb
feet, hands, and forehead. The boat drivers had warm buckets of
water in the boat for the skiers to warm their feet between runs.
A couple of boats even had hot water showers on the back which stayed on
all the time so skiers could warm up as they came out of the water.
I want to thank Tom and Janice Hart for making myself
and my family feel so welcome at their event. They are always genuinely
appreciative to have us attend and write about the event. I
apologize for taking so long to get this article out, but it took that
long for my fingers to thaw out. I have to hand it to the skiers
in Chicago and Wisconsin. It takes a lot of desire and dedication
to show up to ski in such cold weather.
Now for the good news. In 2002, we had only two
weeks to collect donations and showed up with a check for $250.
This year, with the help of footers and friends from around the world,
we were able to present Jan and Tom Hart with a check for a little over
$1,500. That, along with the donations of all the footers and
skiers that attended the event, 2003 goes down as one of the most
successful years for Jan and Tom Hart. Thanks to everyone that
donated. You know who you are, and you should feel very good
helping out this event and cause. It's run by some very nice and
carrying people.
Here are some pictures from the event:
It was a pleasure handing Tom Hart a check from
donations made on BarefootCentral.com. For
those of you who would still like to make a donation, it's not too late,
click
here to donate online.
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