New Year’s Day: a day to reflect, be with friends and family, make resolutions, not work and take a dip in really, really cold water.

The Box 5 Association held its annual Polar Bear Dive at Onset Bay, and over one hundred people ran into the water and then quickly fled out of it.

“You do this to feel alive, the experience,” said Cheryl Bushnell of Rochester and former Wareham resident.

“It’s something you have to do at least once in a life time,” said Bushnell.

If sprinting into the bay on New Year’s Day is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, 10-year-old Apollo Prefontaine got it over with early.

“I didn’t know just how cold the water was going to be,” Prefontaine said.

As he was getting his toes warmed up, he said, at that exact moment, he had no intention of being in the same situation in 365 days.

To jump in this year, Prefontaine needed some persuasion from his family.

“But, I decided to do it,” Prefontaine said.

Danielle Boissoneau of Wareham also needed to be convinced to enter the chilly bay.

“My friend made me,” Boissoneau said. “I’ll probably do it again, though.”

Jumping into the bone-chilling water is made easier when one is flanked by over a hundred other people.

“The crowd carries you in,” Seth Bushnell said. “That helped – it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“It’s actually a lot worse when you get out,” Boissoneau said.

Polar Bear Plunge committee member Dave Mark watched the plunge from the Onset Pier.

“I help manage the operations… that’s my excuse for not participating,” Mark said.

The committee of eight people began meeting every other week two months ago, and met on a weekly basis beginning in December.

Mark said the event began with 40 or 50 people in 2005, and he is thrilled with how much the event has grown.

“Last year, we had 274 and we raised $4,500 to $5,000,” said Mark. “It’s a good thing for the town.”

The Box 5 Association uses the proceeds from the Polar Bear Dive -- its biggest fundraiser -- to fund scholarships, fill food baskets for the needy during the holidays, and support other charitable causes.