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
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— 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-
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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
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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.
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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. While the price is yet unclear, Lapp Murray
SODQVWRRIIHUWKHPDWFRVWIRUJRLQJDQ\SUR¿W
To purchase a copy, contact Lapp Murray at:
/DSS0XUUD\ODSS#FKDUWHUQHWRU
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