Participants in Sunday's Polar Bear Swim, including state Sen. George Borrello and County Legislator Dave Wilfong, are shown in the water.

SILVER CREEK — Continuing her goal of raising money for Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, Pamela Forge of Forge Ahead Promotions sponsored their latest swimming event: the 2022 Polar Bear Swim. On Sunday, nearly 20 registered swimmers took to the cold Lake Erie waters, each bringing with them money they raised for the cause. Although the turnout was lighter than normal, Forge still called the event a success.

“It was a little lighter than normal, due to a lot of factors.” she said. “I think people were concerned about being in a group setting so the indoor portion was very light. We did well I feel, and anything we generate is going to be more than charities had the day before.”

Forge said some swimmers called in due to COVID-19, but their donations will still be collected and provided. Before those donations were added, Forge said almost $6,000 was raised for places like Oishei Children’s Hospital, the Silver Creek Fire Department, the Sunset Bay Fire Department, and the Silver Creek Rescue Squad, while also collecting money for the Silver Creek Food Pantry.

“We spread out to local and regional levels,” Forge said. “We’ve always felt that almost everybody in our communities here has used the children’s hospital or knows somebody who has.”

While the donations were on par for a normal year, the number of swimmers overall being down hindered the success of the indoor activities like the chili cookoff, where there simply wasn’t a lot of attendance. While the later start time for the Buffalo Bills game on Sunday helped Forge out, she added that the weather was the worst she could remember for the event.

“The weather was probably the nastiest it’s been,” Forge said. “The sun normally shines on the day of the Polar Bear Swim; this is one of the first ones where the sun wasn’t shining.”

With the success her past events have had, Forge is thankful for all the volunteers from community, Sunset Bay, and the Fireman’s Club, most of whom have been helping since the beginning.

“It’s so great the way the community comes together to help by donating chili, donating gift certificates and prizes,” Forge said. “We’ve had the same volunteers, and a majority of them come from Sunset Bay. They help out with things like signing in swimmers, to selling food tickets, to selling chili. There are lots of volunteers that participate from the fireman’s club, and things like bartending and security are all done with volunteers as well.”

Forge is already looking ahead to their second swim of the year, which is the Chicken Swim, set to be at Cabana Sam’s on Aug. 25. For any questions, you can contact Forge at 716-430-3775 or emailing pforge@exploreny.net. Forge said that pledge sheets for the August event are available already, if anyone wants to get a head start.