Wednesday, April 24, 2024
A frigid time was had by all.
City Manager Chris Coffman was first to take the plunge.
Some Goosebump Jump participants seemed to tumble into the lake rather than hitting the water on their bottom.
The day was cold, but the smiles were warm, even though some of them might have been more of a grimace due to bone-chilling wind.
In any event, Saturday’s Goosebump Jump at the City Beach was a success, thanks to good sports willing to brave the cold waters of Lake Granbury for two good causes: promoting the city’s winter tourism season and raising money for a local nonprofit.
Not all those good sports were local. Some were, well, tourists.
The first Goosebump Jump was held in 2020. One was planned for last year, but it was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
This year, it was full steam ahead even though the only steam was coming from the hot tub brought on site by JR Spas, one of the event’s sponsors.
Other sponsors included the city of Granbury; Visit Granbury, which is the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB); the Hood County News; the Granbury Lodging Association; and KHITS 95.5.
Goosebump Jump 2022 was a day for silly costumes and fun in the winter sun, complete with ice and fake snow.
The nearby Hilton Garden Inn provided cookies and cocoa afterward, and Snow Belles Shaved Ice doled out free treats from a camper parked near the check-in tables. The Acton-based company flavors its shaved ice with homemade syrups and creams.
Participants representing 21 charities and nonprofits signed up beforehand, each paying a $10 entry fee. But it was the number that showed up on the day of the event that determined which organization won a pool of cash.
Mission Granbury won that competition. The nonprofit, which provides a range of assistance to those in need, received $2,500 in prize money funded through registration fees and the Granbury Lodging Association.
By mid-week last week, 170 participants had registered, according to Visit Granbury Director Tammy Dooley. She said that Mission Granbury was in the lead, followed by Second Chance Farms (which won the prize money in 2020), Forward Training Center, and the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center.
With morning temperatures in the 30s and a wind chill in the 20s, showing up and braving the cold waters of Lake Granbury was perhaps as tall an order as the blue slide constructed by Jeff Krebs and his crew from Epicenter Productions. They were on the beach before sunrise Saturday getting everything set up, using 16,000 pounds of shaved ice to make sure the slide was slippery enough to propel participants into the water.
“It takes a solid two hours to do it,” Krebs said of setting up the slide. He and his crew worked the first Goosebump Jump in 2020.
Before City Manager Chris Coffman started things off by being the first to take the plunge, just as he did at the first Goosebump Jump in 2020, winners were announced in a costume contest that included several categories. Awards were also given for the oldest participant and the person who had traveled the farthest.
Winners of the costume categories were determined by whoops and applause from the crowd.
Rachelle Sem of Porter Title Company, who dressed as an angel, won the individual costume category.
The award for couple’s costume went to Christian Cavassos and Colin Lindsey, who dressed as He-Man and She-Ra. Winner of the team award went to “Super Friends,” representing State Farm agent Angela Parker’s office.
The award for farthest traveled was given to Judy Ferguson of New York, and local resident Faye Landham, who turns 81 next month, stepped forward as the oldest participant.
The event took place one week after Visit Granbury racked up 10 awards from the Texas Association of Fairs and Events for its initiatives to promote Granbury’s tourism industry.
Dooley hopes to grow the annual Goosebump Jump into a winter festival, adding it to the list of other annual events that Granbury is known for.
This year, Visit Granbury created a Winter Guest Passport, good through Feb. 28.
Those interested can register for the passport at visitgranbury.com. It offers discounts offered by participating businesses.
https://www.hcnews.com/multimedia/photo_galleries/photo-gallery-lake-granbury-goosebump-jump-2022/collection_e88cd246-7793-11ec-a24d-4352922588ec.html
