It’s the perfect setting for the 2011 Polar Plunge: temperatures in the teens. Tonight hundreds will take the big plunge and jump into the frigid Deschutes River at the Old Mill District. Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton will take the plunge, and says the cold weather and cold water is always a shock no matter how many times you've done it: “Frankly standing in line to get ready to go, we go first, but standing in line is as bad as the jump itself, but you learn things - but it is cold!" The Polar Plunge is a fundraising event for Special Olympics in Oregon and the Bend event is expected to raise more than $80,000. Besides the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, the Bend Police Department and criminal justice students from COCC are taking the icy jump. If you'd like to watch those crazy fundraisers its free to come down and observe the torture. The plunging starts at 6:30 pm.