Billy Finn

• Billy has been my right-hand man for many years now and we enter the water and exit the water together each year. The cool thing about Cookie and Billy is that their dad and my dad were great friends from high school to the day my father died in 2016. It’s those Lowell roots that make me love this city.  Billy, like the others above, works endlessly at looking for shirt sponsors and web page sponsors and there really isn’t anyone better at it than him. Billy was able to arrange to meet with Lindsay, Nick, and all of the kids yesterday without anyone knowing why we were meeting.  It was awesome and one of my favorite parts of these plunges. The day we meet the benefactor and their families. Billy has been a key ally of mine for many years now and his company BAMMCO is a generous supporter each year.

Shaun Cremin

• Shaun joined our team in 2021 after his close friend, Kevin Conley, and his family, lost their home in a fire in Lowell shortly before Christmas in 2019. When we did the Plunge for the Conleys, Shaun was floored and vowed to help this cause indefinitely. Shaun and his girlfriend Di Prestipino live in Seabrook and Shaun has worked tirelessly with the police department and the Church on Chelmsford Street for parking. He has spent hours canvassing the neighborhoods to let them know the event happenings and to get the support of his neighbors. Shaun has been invaluable and someone who is up to any and all tasks. It was Shaun’s daughter Katie who originally brought the Logan family to our committee and introduced us to them yesterday at Doughboys.

Cookie Finn

• Cookie came on board after she had mentioned to her brother Billy that one of her best friends, Sandy Grimes, could use some help. Right away we said that the 2021 Polar Plunge would be for Sandy Dubuque Grimes and Cookie was a big help from day one. Like Sandy, Cookie has worked a bunch of fundraisers and golf functions so she was able to guide us with many ideas as to things that work and things that don’t. She doesn’t pull any punches and she’s not afraid to tell you when you’re out of line. She is also excellent at moving the meetings along when too much chatter and not enough business is being discussed. Cookie is another great teammate and we couldn’t do what we do without her.

Sandy Grimes

• Sandy joined our team after being the benefactor in 2021. Sandy suffers from MS and its debilitating effects have made it harder and harder to get around. However, she is a wonderful mom with three great children.  Samuel serves our country in the Military and her beautiful daughters Gabriella and Juliana take such good care of their beautiful mom.  Sandy has worked many different fundraisers in the past so she brings a ton of experience to us. She writes beautifully and I’ll be forever grateful to her for the beautiful commendation she wrote last Spring.

Ed & Vicky McMahon

• One of the hardest things to do each year is to meet a benefactor and/or his parents on day one. That was the case last August 2022 when I visited Vicky and Ed.  I didn’t want to be there because it wasn’t a social visit. It was for something much different. To plan a Plunge to benefit their 17 -year-old son, Eddie Jr.  I immediately saw that this was a couple that were very strong.  They are a two-person team that are doing everything possible to get Eddie the best possible care near the rest of their families here in Lowell. They are a remarkable couple and a remarkable family.  It’s been a joy getting to know Eddie Jr., Colby, Eddie & Vicky, and all of the McMahons. I knew from day one that they were all in and that they would one day be joining us to give back to someone else. They have times ten. I have known Ed since high school.  He brings such energy to our team. A great storyteller, he also knows what to say in the difficult moments. He was so smooth in speaking with Lindsay and Nick yesterday giving his heartfelt thoughts on his experience from last year and ultimately telling Nick to embrace the next three months. It was perfect. He always knows what to say and when to say it.  I had never met Vicky until last August. An awful way to meet, but I knew she was a fabulous mom and wife.  She is as organized a person as I’ve met and so good at the Digital / Social Media end of things. She created this website and made it so user-friendly. Far beyond my means. She is constantly looking at different ways to raise revenue and has made this site so easy to navigate even for those of us who aren’t nearly as sharp as she. I consider she and Ed great friends now and we’re so lucky to have them on board. We just wish that we hadn’t met this way. Vicky puts a ton of effort into this site while never taking her eye off her two boys, Colby, Eddie Jr, and her mom, Mamie. I’m not sure what we’d do without these two.  An unbelievable couple doing great things despite all they are going through.