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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2016)
January 15, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A A NEW YEAR’ S TR ADITION Pacifi c Plunge is steeped in a sense of community Plunge from Page 1A “I’ve been a photographer for almost 50 years,” said Lapp Murray, who operated her own studio in Portland and taught photographic tech- nique around the world. Every year since, save for one, Lapp Murray photographed — and joined — the wet, shivering and smiling revelers. As the pictures piled up she began thinking the subject was rife for a book. But rather than a personal or vanity project, Lapp Murray set out to assemble a record. The photos in “The History of The Arch Cape New <HDU3DFL¿F3OXQJH´DUHRQO\KDOI/DSS0XUUD\¶V — the rest came from the community. Lapp Murray put out the call in 2010, asking friends and neighbors for photos, newspaper clip- pings, stories — anything they had germane to the plunge. The community obliged. “I got these family albums and I would try not to hurt them as I scanned the photos,” said Lapp Murray. “Very seldom did anyone have a negative, so I had to scan miserable prints. I spent a lot of time in Photoshop.” As she sought to accurately chronicle the event, Lapp Murray painstakingly deduced the dates of all the photos that arrived unmarked against those that were, comparing bathing suits, haircuts and so on. She also received news clippings, including a few from journalists who participated in taking the plunge. Amongst them are excepts from this very paper, one dating back to 1977. The New Year’s Day tradition began some- ZKDWRI¿FLDOO\LQDV%HWW\%ULGJHW6QRZDQG Floyd “Scotty” Scott joined hands and jumped in, Polar Bears ready for action. though the book trac- es its roots even fur- ther back. In the 1910s an English-born bach- elor and Arch Cape resident Marmad- uke Maxwell was known to take win- ter plunges. Max- well also owned two cows, which he took with him down to the beach. In the book, one of bovines is pic- tured, laying in the sand. Another early swimmer was Barbara Forbes Shaw, who started mak- ing icy dives as a teenager in the 1940s. Forbes, who became known as one of the ³TXHHQV´RIWKH1HZ<HDU¶VHYHQWPDGHKHU¿QDO plunge in 2015 at age 90. She died later that year. Shaw wasn’t the only participant to continue well into her twilight. Bridget Snow kept soldiering into that near-freezing water well into her 80s. Noanie Morri- son, another matriarchal pillar of the dive, retired from the swim only after turning 90 last August. ³,¿QLVKHGWKHERRNWKLV\HDUEHFDXVH%DUEDUD Shaw died and Noanie Morrison decided to re- tire,” said Lapp Murray. “They’re gone now, so it seemed like the time to do it.” Despite the absence of Shaw and Morrison, their spirits persist at the event, and the proge- ny of both women continue plunging in their stead. Lapp Murray’s own family now has three generations of plungers — which, the book points out, prefer to be known as “fur seals” rather than “polar bears.” “My grandchildren have gone in since they were babies,” said Lapp Murray. “It’s just part of what you do.” Over the decades, nothing the winter weather has dished out has deterred the group. “One year we had a horrible, horri- ble swim,” said Lapp Murray. “It was dangerous. We probably shouldn’t have gone in. There was no sand. You were in the rocks, and the rocks would pull you down.” While looking back on the many plunges, Th e Polar Plunge was the top- ic of this early Gazette article. though, a sense of community stands out to Lapp Murray more than anything. It’s why she decided to make the book. She found inspiration in another communi- ty-sourced text, “The Arch Cape Chronicles,” a voluminous history in which area families each wrote their own chapters. As the unincorporated Arch Cape lacks it’s own brick and mortar institutions — like a City Hall, museum, or history center — its citizens have taken it upon themselves to create and maintain a record. “The book is so full of the history of this com- munity,” said Lapp Murray. “I think that’s what made me decide to do it.” Now complete, the hardcover book is lavish- ly bound, printed in full, glossy color. Its 70-plus pages contain photos from nearly every year, from 1971 to 2015. Anyone who’s ever participated may ZHOO¿QGWKHPVHOYHVSLFWXUHGLQWKHFROOHFWLRQ After receiving proof copies, Lapp Murray is seeking interest from any perspective buyers. As the books will be printed on-demand, and in DVPDOOUXQ/DSS0XUUD\ZLOORQO\¿OOWKHRUGHUV she gets — there won’t be extras available in book- stores. 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