It takes a person with a special commitment to a cause to jump into the icy waters of the Piankatank River in February, and nearly two dozen of those people showed up to do exactly that on Saturday, as members of the Ice-A-Holics team gathered at Riverwatch in Gloucester to participate in the 2021 Special Olympics PlungeYourWAY Polar Plunge.

The event, which is the premiere fundraising event for Special Olympics Virginia, included people from all over the Middle Peninsula, with a few residents from Pennsylvania thrown in for good measure. It was held in memory of Edward Reeves Elliott Jr., who participated annually since 2014, but passed away in October. He was the brother of Team Captain Dreux Elliott.

Dreux Elliott said his team usually participates in the annual event in Virginia Beach, but because of the pandemic, teams were organizing their own smaller virtual events this year. His team had a total of 45 plungers this year, some of whom plunged in other locations. They ...