West Seattle Weblog… | Alki Beach New Year’s Day 2026 Polar Bear Swim is on! With a ‘new request (and) message of thanks’

January 1, 2026
New Year’s Day Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim

We go into the water at 10:00 am sharp!

(After the countdown from 10, 9, 8 . .)

Bring good water footwear, heat garments to alter into, a towel and your hopes and goals for 2026. Holding arms along with your neighbors as you go in, at all times makes it simpler!!

New Request:

Please deliver a donation for our native meals banks. Drop them within the Costco black tubs that might be positioned all alongside the sidewalk.

Message of due to the great folks of West Seattle:

My wonderful, lovely spouse Lois Schipper and I want to thanks all, from the underside of our hearts, for at all times being so variety to us throughout our three many years right here. And for being such nice neighbors too. Between our many mates, household, and so many nice public faculty lecturers, you all have helped us nurture our two boys to maturity and made our lives a lot fuller.

For Lois and me, 2025 has been particularly tough. Lois, my executive-functioning partner, has been identified with early-onset Alzheimer’s illness. We are crushed. Also, we each spent a few years working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), offering humanitarian help in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and the previous Soviet Union earlier than we moved to West Seattle, then White Center. Lois is a Public Health Nurse and professional on at-risk mothers and infants, and I labored on meals safety and democratic pluralism efforts.

For those that might need missed, USAID was the federal entity that Elon Musk “fed to the woodchipper” earlier this yr. The complete USAID world-wide workers of over 10,000 good Americans all misplaced their jobs in in the future. Like us, these professionals devoted their lives to serving to essentially the most susceptible world wide on behalf of the American folks.

So, for Lois and me, we might be holding arms, and as we go operating into Puget Sound, we might be washing away the stain of our spiritually-crippled President and his spineless Republican social gathering.

And what we would like from the New Year is to pack our remaining wholesome time along with each service journey we are able to slot in, and day-after-day, be grateful that we’re blessed to reside on this beneficiant, fantastic group with all of you good folks.

Last yr, over 1,500 went into the water. So come on down and be part of us on Thursday, January 1. Bring your meals financial institution donation and get there somewhat early, as we go into the water at 10:00 am sharp after the countdown. And bear in mind, don’t waste a day. Our lives are shorter than we predict.

Be sturdy in 2026.

Sincerely,
Mark L. Ufkes and Lois A. Schipper