Mayor Lisa Merkel gets drenched during the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Photo by Reena Singh.
Cold water or cash?
That was the question about 20 residents were forced to make Saturday for a charity challenge making its rounds through the nation.
The challenge was that if a person who committed to the challenge called out a person they know - or don’t know - they have 24 hours to dump a bucket of ice water on their head and donate $10 to the ALS Association. If they opted out, they have to donate $100.
“I got called out by the owner of the Ashburn Pub, Kevin Beanardz, and I thought I’d take it to the next level,” said resident and local business owner Jimmy Cirrito. “Go big or go home.”
ALS stands for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
On a video Cirrito put up on Facebook, he challenged Mayor Lisa Merkel, the Herndon Town Council and several other residents. Under the afternoon sun, they each took turns getting a bucket of ice water - or three - dumped on their head while Cirrito recorded it.
“We do a log of fun things in Herndon and we’ve been thinking about doing some charitable things,” said Merkel when asked why she brought several members of the town council with her to the event. “We’re hoping it’s the start of periodic things the council does together.”
Other council members who attended were Dave Kirby, Steven Mitchell and Grace Wolf.
Even though she had about six buckets of ice water dumped on her from several people, she said it didn’t feel as bad as she thought it would.
Many others were visibly shaking as the cold water splashed over their head.
Herndon resident Jameson Glynn, 10, splashed water on many other participants after she participated in the event.
“It was freezing,” she said.
She challenged her best friends and her cousin to do their part for the charity.
Wolf said she was more than happy to take part in the challenge with her fellow council members.
“Herndon is always up for a good cause,” she said. “It’s a great community building experience.”
She said many other municipal councils are all business, but Herndon’s council works hard and plays hard.
“We’re one of the few councils that really have a lot of fun,” she said.