A Polar-Steer Plunge
Photo by Howard Krause in an AW Standard
As New Years Day approaches we are excited to watch or in some cases participate in the annual Herb Mericle memorial polar bear plunge. We find in an old addition of the Anthony Wayne Standard that many years ago the excitement was caused by a wayward Wood County steer who jumped into the ice-choked river. The animal was owned by Tom Schaller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Merlyn Schaller who lived across the river from the Waterville School. Tom was an Anthony Wayne High School student and the steer was his F.F.A. project. The steer got loose around 9 A.M. and decided to take a swim in the frigid Maumee River. The beast apparently was enjoying itself and would not be coaxed out of the river by the Schaller’s and a growing contingent of would-be helpers, both in boats and on shore. It swam under the Waterville Bridge where the boatmen got a rope on it but the critter still would not climb out of the icy water on the Waterville side. The paper lists those assisting in the struggles with the wayward beast as Herb Mericle, Jack Edwards, Marion Mosier, Kenneth Saunders, Steve Schaller, and Standard photographer Howard Krause. Finally it was decided that the antics of the obstinate steer were a safety hazard to would be rescuers and the animal was shot. The ultimate irony of the story is that the animal was processed, wrapped and stored away … in the freezer.