Submitted photo courtesy of Jan Mason Jan Mason, assisted living director at Boulder Creek Assisted Living, shows off her purple “Fighting For Our Memories” shirt, to show support for people with dementia. Mason will be taking part in a “Polar Plunge” event Feb. 5 to help raise money for a virtual field trip program for Boulder Creek residents.

MARSHALL — When she takes the leap into an ice-cold pond in St. Peter next weekend, Jan Mason says she’ll be dressing for the occasion.

“I’m going to be dressed in purple, with purple hair,” Mason said. The color is important, said Mason, the director of assisted living at Boulder Creek Assisted Living in Marshall. Purple represents dementia awareness, and Mason is taking the Polar Plunge to benefit Boulder Creek residents.

Mason will be participating in St. Peter’s Polar Plunge event on Feb. 5. She’s raising pledges for equipment that will allow Boulder Creek residents to take virtual-reality field trips around the world.

“I was trying to think of a way to fundraise and get people excited about it,” Mason said.

Mason said the program is called Strategic Educational Services: Virtual Field Trips For Older Adults.

“It’s a virtual tour to different places around the world,” she said. The subscription-based system offers three tours a month. Each tour comes with a script that will allow Boulder Creek staff to share interesting facts about the tour destination.

“It allows (residents) to feel like they’re getting out,” Mason said. The virtual tours can also tie into other activities at Boulder Creek. For example, she said, “One of the trips for March is Ireland. So, it’s a great base to build upon for other related activities.”

Together, the program’s subscription and adaptive equipment for Boulder Creek residents will cost about $300, Mason said. At first, the plan for the program also included virtual-reality goggles, but Mason said Boulder Creek decided not to go with the goggles for cost and safety reasons.

The idea to fundraise for the program with the Polar Plunge came from some of Mason’s past experiences. It’s not her first time taking the plunge — she and a friend took part in a Polar Plunge event in Canby 10 years ago.

Jumping into the cold water isn’t the biggest challenge of the Polar Plunge, Mason said.

“The worst part is when you get out of the water, if the wind is blowing,” she said.

People who are interested in pledging toward the virtual tour program at Boulder Creek can email Mason at jan@boulder-creek.org, or call 507-401-3637.

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