ELLENVILLE – The next time you're feeling chilly this winter, just think back to the New Year's Goose with the Frozen Feathers.

At about 4 o'clock on Wednesday, December 30, the Ellenville Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting that there was a goose trapped in a frozen pond near Church Street. "It was trying to move its feet, and it wasn't going anywhere," said Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion.

The police called in members of the fire department and the Ellenville Rescue Squad, and it was decided that the pond was too dangerous for anyone to walk out onto, as pond was not fully frozen.

So that's when they broke out the wetsuit.

Rescue Squad Captain Arnold Ortiz put on his wetsuit and, with some security measures being taken for his safety, proceeded into the frigid pond's waters to free the goose.

"The goose was healthy and freed and went back to its flock and started swimming again," said Chief Mattracion of Ortiz's heroics.

When asked if the bird had sustained any injuries from its ordeal, Chief Mattracion said that the goose "was looked at briefly, but it was ready to get out of there. He didn't want to be held by us in no way and no form; he just wanted to be freed.

"It appears that what had happened," explained the chief, "was that he was swimming in the open part of the water, and then had gone on top of the ice. It was a very windy and extremely cold day, and it appeared that part of the goose had become frozen to the ice, and he could not free himself."

The entire operation took about an hour, said Mattracion.