February 5, 2025

Whole Community News

From Kalapuya lands in the Willamette watershed

Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Feb. 8

6 min read
Carl Buffo: You go up there Saturday, it's Woodstock. Just a good vibe everywhere. From here to there, from the front to the back, everybody laughing, hugging, and high-fiving. This is what our world should be, right here, right here in this moment.

Presenter: There’s still time to sign up for the Polar Plunge and 5K coming up in Eugene this Saturday, Feb. 8. It’s the big annual fundraiser for Special Olympics, and one family has been plunging into the icy Willamette River since 2019. Carl Buffo:

Carl Buffo (The Buffo Boys): How cold’s the water? It’s a balmy 40 degrees, you know. And I said, ‘It’s in and out. We’re not doing backstrokes or swimming up to Salem.’ You know, the day you do it, I tell you, you go up there Saturday, John, it’s Woodstock. I mean, it’s just a good vibe everywhere.

[00:00:34] Presenter: Here’s Plunge Manager Shauna Stevens:

[00:00:36] Shauna Stevens: We have a lot of really cool community partners. The Bier Stein is going to be bringing soup for participants, Texas Roadhouse brings out sliders (little sandwiches) and their famous dinner rolls and cinnamon butter.

[00:00:50] Lithia, who’s one of our biggest sponsors, providing the granola bars and different swag items. We’ll have Starbucks out there, giving folks warm beverages, and Safeway is also participating this year and they’re going to be bringing out some waters and different beverages for folks after they finish their 5K run. And all those are provided to participants for free.

[00:01:12] So they’re all donating their time and supplies, which is really great.

[00:01:16] Presenter: Participants find sponsors for their mid-winter plunge, and can join teams for some friendly fundraising competition. Carl said he and his son formed a team, called The Buffo Boys.

[00:01:28] Carl Buffo (The Buffo Boys): You got teams like me, you know, me and my son. Then you got some people with 20 people on their team. Hey, there’s people that dress up in costumes and tutus and stuff. It’s a very cool moment. And we’re there a couple of years ago doing it, my son goes, ‘Come on, let’s go, let’s go.’

[00:01:45] I said, ‘Hang on a minute.’ And I said, ‘Look at this.’ And John, I’m not kidding you, from here to there, from the front to the back, everybody laughing, hugging and high-fiving. And I said, ‘This is what our world should be, right here, right here in this moment. You know?’

[00:02:00] Presenter: Shauna Stevens:

[00:02:00] Shauna Stevens: This is the 16th year that it’s been in Eugene. We really started growing around 2022. We had been fundraising about the same amount up until 2022 and then the last three to four years, the participation has increased. Our fundraising has increased. It’s been really, really great.

[00:02:19] This is our biggest fundraiser of the year for Special Olympics. So we’re the first of the seven plunges we have across the state.

[00:02:26] Funds are used to provide regional and state competitions. Typically in Eugene and Springfield, we’ve hosted bocce ball regional tournaments, anywhere from 9 to 10 teams across our region that will come to participate in the tournaments.

[00:02:42] I also coach softball and we had our softball regional tournament this year in Springfield as well. Funds raised go to help support those events as well as programming for United Champion schools, the schools that have athletes and nonathletes working together. And they also compete in regional tournaments across the state.

[00:03:05] We also have the summer state games, which were back this past year, in 2024, and those were held up in Corvallis. And so funds raised go to support all of those different pieces.

[00:03:14] Presenter: Carl said he first got involved after a friend invited him to a golf tournament.

[00:03:19] Carl Buffo (The Buffo Boys): My buddy Mike is a Rotarian. And he said they’re having a summer outing over at the golf course in Springfield over there off of Mohawk. And so my son and I volunteered and, John, it was just a wonderful day. An eye-opening day. We were all paired up with people on the golf course and I was paired up with a fella named Forrest. And Forrest, I don’t know, he had to be in his fifties, but he’s all dressed up like, you know, (Greg) Norman, ‘The Shark’ guy, he had a cap, hat, everything. He was just into it.

[00:03:48] The last thing they had to do was sink a 20-foot putt on a green. And you know, everybody’s talking, talking, talking. Forrest goes up there and it’s like the U.S. Open. The crowd goes silent. All right. He sinks this putt, you know, you would have thought it was Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open and we just, so we run out there and we actually pick him up and put him on our shoulders and he goes, ‘Today is the greatest day of my life.’ And he meant it, you know, and then my son and I are driving home and we’re talking about this. And also we’re in the car, we start crying, you know, because what a wonderful thing it was. What a wonderful day it was.

[00:04:29] And just that we could help make that kind of impact on people. And then we just started doing the Polar Plunge cause hey, nobody believes that we’re going to jump in that river. And we do!

[00:04:39] Presenter: Plunge Manager Shauna Stevens says it’s common to sign up the week of the event, and even the day of the event.

[00:04:47] Shauna Stevens: Sometimes upwards of 30 to 40% register week of (the event) and then definitely, quite a few register day of (the event).

[00:04:53] Folks can go to PlungeOregon.org, and then search for the Eugene location, and then they can join and make a team, or register as an individual participant, or you can donate to your favorite plunger by going to the bottom of our page and seeing who’s out there participating.

[00:05:12] And then we have incentives. So if folks raise more than $250, they receive a really cool camping mug that has artwork on it from one of our Special Olympics athletes in the Portland area. And then we also have a Polar Plunge towel for anyone who raises over $500.

[00:05:34] Presenter: Carl thanked the customers at Safeway on 40th and Donald for their support. With Carl’s wife and Travis’s wife handling publicity and logistics, the family team has become one of Eugene’s top fundraisers.

[00:05:46] Carl Buffo (The Buffo Boys): I really look forward to doing this. People look forward to me doing it. I’m helping these kids out. I’m doing something, and since I’ve been doing this, I’ve got a huge following of special needs kids that, you know, their folks bring them to my line, you know?

[00:05:59] I realized that the people in our store, they’re very generous and they want to support me, you know, which is really nice, you know. I’ve got this one couple that comes in there. She’s got to be in her 80s. But the other day she goes, ‘Carl, are you sure you should be doing this?’ I say, What do you mean? ‘Well, you know, someone your age, someone your age shouldn’t be doing this.’ I said, ‘I’ll be fine.’ She goes, ‘Well, you ought to cover your body with grease or some heavy oil, you know.’ I said, ‘Look,’ I said, ‘I’m jumping in and out of the river. I’m not swimming the English Channel, you know.’ Well, she stopped by again today, ‘We’ll see you Saturday.’ I said, ‘We’ll be there. We’ll be there.’

[00:06:38] Presenter: You can join Carl this Saturday, Feb. 8 for a mid-winter moment of Woodstock on the Willamette. It all starts at Maurie Jacobs Park, across the water from Valley River Center. Register for the 5K run at 9 a.m., then take the plunge at 11.

[00:06:54] For more, visit PlungeOregon.org.

Image courtesy Carl and Travis, The Buffo Boys.

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