Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset showed its efficiency in a special way on August 15. Staff and others who volunteered took the wildly popular ice bucket challenge to fight ALS — not with buckets over their heads, but a bucket loader that poured ice and water over the group.

The Wiscasset Water District and Shaw Construction lent equipment to pull off the fundraiser that had participants laughing and then figuring out later who got the worst of the deluge.

Correctional Administrator Mark Westrum realized it wasn’t him. Being in the front gave him a soaking, but less of one than others further back received, including jail employee James Bailey’s daughter Jasmine, 12.

“Freezing,” she said when asked afterward to describe the experience.

The Wiscasset Middle School student had received a challenge from a cousin. As she and others waited for the rush of water and ice, her twin sisters Jenna and Jade, 10, looked on and their mother Jamie Bailey was poised to capture the event on video with the laptop she received Friday as a birthday present.

Before the water dropped, Westrum stood with fellow participants and dedicated the event to two people who died after battles with ALS. Henry “Hank” Rebmann III, kitchen manager at the jail, died in 2012; Maine State Police Detective Al Hendsbee, a friend of Westrum’s, died in 2007.

“So we do this today in memory of them, and all people who have succumbed to this horrible disease,” Westrum said.

The jail, which takes inmates from Lincoln, Sagadahoc and other counties as well as the Maine State Prison, has challenged other jails and sheriff’s departments around the state to hold ice bucket challenges in the fight against ALS. Kennebec County Jail was the first to accept, Westrum said.

“That we appreciate. We really want everyone to participate in this. It’s a great event,” Westrum said.

Have you done the ice bucket challenge? Send links to your videos to news@wiscassetnewspaper.com or news@boothbayregister.com.