Mike's St. Baldrick's 2005 Photo Gallery

Mike's 2nd Time in the Chair


On Saturday, March 12th, I joined eleven other brave "shavees" at the Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls, VA for the St. Baldrick's 2005 charity head shave event. St. Baldrick's is a whimsical twist on St. Patrick's Day - when brave volunteers agreed to shave their heads bald to raise funds for childhood cancer research. Funds raised at the events go to benefit CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation - which supports CureSearch Children's Oncology Group - the world's foremost childhood cancer research organization.

I hope that you will take a few minutes and look around the St. Baldrick's website (http://www.stbaldricks.org/).

Kathleen Goldsmith, organizer of the St Baldrick's event at the Old Brogue, gave here greetings before the shaving began.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Kathleen Goldsmith

Kathleen Goldsmith introduced Mike Kearney, owner of the Old Brogue Irish Pub. Mike has been generous enough to host the event each year.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Mike Kearney, owner of the Old Brogue

After introducint Mike Kearney, Kathleen Goldsmith presented him with a plaque from St. Baldrick's to thank him for hosting the event.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Kathleen presenting Mike Kearney the plaque

Kathleen introduced her husband Bill Goldsmith who introduced the shavees, barbers, and kept the audience entertained during the shaving. Bill started by making a toast.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Bill Goldsmith

I was in the first group of four shavees. I got a few photos from the chair with my small pocket camera. First is a quick picture before loosing any hair. Sean Meyers was in the chair on my right. He shaved both his head and beard.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Mike Becvar sitting in the barber's chair

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sean Meyers

St. Baldrick's 2005

Shavee in the chair on my left almost bald

The Old Brogue was filled with people both young and old supporting St. Baldrick's.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Children watching the shaving from the front row

St. Baldrick's 2005

Mike Becvar almost bald

St. Baldrick's 2005

The barber shaves Sean Meyers' beard

After I was done being shaved bald, I got out of the chair and switched to my new Canon Digital Rebel camera. I was able to capture the head shaving from the audience.

St. Baldrick's 2005

David R takes his turn in the barber's chair

St. Baldrick's 2005

Alex Palumbo

Sean Meyers was just one of two guys with really long hair. The other was Scott Retter, he had long dreadlocks. It didn't take the barbers too long to cut off the dreadlocks.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Scott Retter

St. Baldrick's 2005

Michael Boland

St. Baldrick's 2005

Michael Boland and Scott Retter

St. Baldrick's 2005

David R almost bald

St. Baldrick's 2005

Michael Boland

St. Baldrick's 2005

Alex Palumbo

There is a clown in every group. This year, it was Dr. Michael McCombs. He is an orthodontis and he brought a pair of flashing red teeth.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Dr. Michael McCombs gives a big smile

St. Baldrick's 2005

Scott Retter almost done

St. Baldrick's 2005

The barber has fun and takes the first pass on Dr. Michael McCombs

The barber had some fun blowing on Jeff Crowe's bald spot.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Jeff Crowe - Can you feel the breeze?

St. Baldrick's 2005

Three brave shavees - Jeff Crowe, Dr Michael McCombs, and Scott Retter

There were two women, Patricia Rutter and Sheri Berman who were brave enough to have their heads shaved. Patricia Rutter came prepared with green hair.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Patricia Rutter

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri Berman

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri Berman

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri almost bald

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri Berman and Patricia Rutter being shaved

One of the best parts of the event was watching the reaction of the shavees and their families.

St. Baldrick's 2005

How does it feel?

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri takes her first look, "Wow, is that me?"

A green, St. Baldrick's hat was passed around the crowd to collect additional money.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Passing the hat

St. Baldrick's 2005

The crowd watches

St. Baldrick's 2005

Even the shavees watch

We were fortunate to have Jim Board there taking event photos again.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Jim Board watches for the right opportunity to take a picture

St. Baldrick's 2005

Sheri gets a hug

St. Baldrick's 2005

Family and friends watch

After the last shavee was done, we headed outside for some group photos. It was a nice March evening.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Shavees outside

St. Baldrick's 2005

Tim Meyers - Cheers

St. Baldrick's 2005

Mike

It was a great evening. As a group, we raised more than $26,000 for St Baldricks.

After I got home, I took my official "after" photo.

St. Baldrick's 2005

Mike's bald head