Relatively mild temps this winter mean Anchor Bay's surface is hardly frozen solid.

With temps projected by the National Weather Service to reach the high 20s, Polar Bear Plunge participants are expected to run into Lake St. Clair from the Burke Park shore, according to Winterfest organizers.

That will be a far different picture than last year, when city employees carved out a large block of ice so plungers could enter the frosty waters from on top of the iced-over lake.

"Do we invoke the Almighty for some ice or what?" North Shore Church Rev. Chris Steinle jokingly asked City Councilman Karl Rutledge of the New Baltimore Lions Club before opening prayer at the Monday night council meeting.

The Lions Club's annual, three-day Winterfest event in downtown New Baltimore attracts a total of nearly 3,000 attendees. About 1,000 of them go to the plunge alone and approximately 200 people have signed up by Monday for the daring dip at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Are you taking the plunge? Tell us why.