By John BrasierRecord Staff WriterCarolyn Edwards felt pain even before she reached the icy water of Lake Saint Louis at Saturday’s Polar Plunge for Missouri Special Olympics.When the starter counted to three, signaling a team representing Warren County Handicapped Services to run from the beach into the water, Edwards looked back at her daughter, Sara Lewis, who was accompanying her for the first time.Edwards didn’t see a step in her path to the water, causing her to trip and fall.“I turned around to run to the water and, ‘Boom,’ ” said Edwards. “But I got up and took the plunge. It was awesome.”Sarah Lewis, who has Down’s syndrome and works at Warren County Sheltered Workshop, nodded that the event was fun and said she expected to do it again next year. Edwards’ daughter, Crystal Lewis, also took the plunge outside the Lake Saint Louis Community Association Clubhouse.Other than Edwards’ misstep, it was an ideal day for the 20 Warren County residents who took the noon plunge in the sub 40-degree water, including Edwards and the Sheltered Workshop’s Jami Washburn, who each participated for the 11th consecutive year.Wearing a Rubik’s Cube costume around his torso, Warrenton High freshman Ray Samson took home a gold plunger trophy for his third-place finish in the pre-plunge parade.The local participants wore “games” costumes. Edwards and Washburn were Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. Other costumes worn by the group included dice as well as Scrabble, Twister and Operation game boards.You can view the complete photo gallery here: http://bit.ly/1DEQ17B.Unseasonably mild temperatures in the 60s greeted the participants, making the outdoor festivities, which included a pre-plunge parade of costumes, much more bearable than in most years. Edwards said she remembers years when ice had to be broken to allow participants to take the plunge.“You can’t beat the weather,” said Washburn. “Today was beautiful. “The water is always cold, but you’re only in it for a short time, so it’s not really the issue. It’s the air outside.”During the week leading up to the event, Edwards said she caught some grief about Saturday’s weather forecast from her contributors. She works as a waitress at Denny’s in Warrenton.“All my customers know this time of the year is Polar Plunge time, and each year they tease me about the weather,” she said. “When they found out this year it was going to be 65 degrees, they said they wanted their money back. I said, ‘No, no, this makes up for the years the temperature was in the single digits.’ ”The 20 Warren County participants — 12 from the sheltered workshop — who submerged their bodies in the water raised about $2,000 from donations and Wednesday hot dog sales at the sheltered workshop for Special Olympics.Local plungers made up two of 35 groups, many with a dozen or more participants, from throughout the St. Louis metro area. Group costumes included dalmatians, showgirls, rock stars and prehistoric people.A crowd of several hundred watched the festivities from along the beach and from decks behind the clubhouse. The St. Louis Cardinals’ Fredbird and Saint Louis University’s “Billiken” interacted with the participants and spectators.In addition to taking the plunge, Tasha Samson came up with the idea for her son’s prize-winning costume. She spray-painted a cardboard box and pasted paper squares of construction paper to it.“We actually made it in 20 minutes before we left,” she said.Other plunge participants included Veronica Aaron, Bill Bart, Tammy Boone, Rebekah Cain, Kelli Clodfelter, Melissa Daugherty, Jan Demny, Trish Duvel, Katlin Edwards, Lindsay Edwards, Billy McCarty, Robby Neil, Rachael Reckamp and Tim Schmidt.In its first 11 years, the plunge raised more than $1.1 million for Special Olympics.Polar bear plungers