22nd Annual Special Olympics
Plane Pull
Someone you should know
If you don’t recognize the man in the
photo on this page, it’s Joe Sarnoski.
PBA members who participate in Spe-
cial Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) law
enforcement fundraising events are not
used to seeing Sarnoski, who was a mem-
ber of Lyndhurst Local 202 for 32 years, in
plain clothes. Anybody who has done the
Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights each
February knows Joe as the polar bear.
Anybody who has run the Jingle All the
Way 5K in December knows him as Santa
Claus.
Sarnoski not only dresses these parts
for SONJ, he plays a vital role as a mem-
ber of the state’s Special Olympics Law
Enforcement Committee since 1995. He
has brought his vivacious personality
and unique sense of humor to officers
and athletes around the world, having re-
cently worked the Special Olympics World
Winter Games in Austria.
His enthusiasm and quips were in play
at the 2018 Plane Pull, where he served
checking in teams to participate and giv-
ing them each a pep talk before hitting the
tarmac. Among all the PBA members who
hit the rope, nobody worked harder than
Sarnoski, who started before 7 a.m. and
was there when the last team stepped up
around 3 p.m.
“Being the polar bear is great because I
put a costume on and I actually get pret-
ty-looking girls with bikinis to hug me,” he
says, apparently illustrating the comedic
sense that has endeared Sarnoski to so
many PBA members. “What makes me do
it? It’s the looks on the athletes when they
see you out there, when you give them a
medal, when you do the Polar Bear Plunge
with them. The athletes are just the most
loving people in the world.”
At 69, Sarnoski shows no indication
of retiring his polar bear and Santa uni-
forms. He says he will go until his legs say,
“no.” That doesn’t appear to be any time
soon because serving Special Olympics
gives him the same feeling as serving on
the job.
“It’s a brotherhood,” he confirms. “But
the brotherhood with the Special Olym-
pics guys is for one purpose – to raise
money and to raise awareness for the ath-
letes.”
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ OCTOBER 2018 69