by Bea Peterson
Last year it began as a whim for HFCS teachers Damien Bundrick, Bill Clairmont and Rob Viera. They and other teachers and students grew beards for No-Shave November to promote cancer awareness. From there it grew into the Beard Off when the three kept their beards through March. For two lunchtimes they sold $1 tickets for a drawing when a student could shave off their beards in any fashion. They raised $400 and they decided to donate it to the scholarship fund for their friend and mentor Isabel McGuire who passed away that month. Perhaps a hundred students watched the after school event. And the three courageous teachers sported their odd looking shaves the following day at school.
Has Become A Major Event
This year the Beard Off was a major event. Once again they renamed the months to No-Shave-November, Decembeard, Manuary, Februhairy, and March Man-ness. They designed and sold white tee-shirts with a bearded black panther on the front and various beard styles on the back. They sold more tickets than the year before and invited the McGuire family to the event as the money would again benefit the Isabel McGuire Scholarship. The Beard Off was held on Wednesday afternoon, March 25, in the gymnasium with all the junior and senior high school in attendance. And the teachers sported their new style at school all day Thursday.
“Honestly,” said Clairmont, “we were very humbled by the support this year. We raised a little over $1,000, which more than doubled last year’s total. For some reason this little town finds ways to support events like these showing how close this community is. Not being from here was hard at first, but now they really have made me feel like I am family to them, and that is a great feeling. It makes that 45 minute ride into work worthwhile and meaningful.”
Clairmont added that the next day was interesting because kids kept asking him if he had a question because of the question mark Lindsey shaved into his beard. Viera wound up with half a beard and Bundrick had several small long strips of beard on his face! They admitted it was a great conversation starter when they stopped into a store in town or ran into someone from the community. Clairmont said, “the best part is always after we shave it all off because for five months all people have seen are these beards, so they forget what we look like without them.” And many people don’t recognize them!
The three want to give a special thank you to Jessica Dougherty and the Class of 2016 for all of their help with selling the tee shirts and tickets. They also want to thank Tom and Angela Husser of Bennington Sports and Graphics for their contribution toward making the shirts and to the faculty, staff, students, and Community of HFCS for supporting this cause in memory of such a great woman.
According to the Cancer Society, the goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free. Then folks are requested to donate the money they usually spend on shaving and grooming for a month to educate about cancer prevention, save lives, and aid those fighting the battle. These three dedicated teachers do them one better.