St. Baldrick’s event raises more than $12,000 for pediatric cancer research
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — Coy Guenter climbed into the barber’s chair, smiled and told 3-year-old Kade Walker to bring on the clippers.The boy and the firefighter had a wager that whoever raised the most money could cut the other’s hair. Walker edged Guenter in the fundraising, and true to his word, the firefighter agreed to let the youth cut his hair. Walker considered it a moment, but shook his head and hugged his mother, Chea Nichols, as she held him.
“That’s all right, you can watch,” Guenter said. And then Tanya Maxwell of Beyond Paradise Spa and Salon turned on her clippers and went after Guenter’s “shaggy” locks. As the clippers buzzed through the Marble Falls firefighter’s hair, he grinned, satisfied he was finally getting a haircut and that he was helping battle pediatric cancer. A minute later, Walker joined Guenter in the barber chair next to the firefighter’s where Becky Turner of Haircuts Xpress of Marble Falls gave the youth his buzz cut.
Both Guenter and Walker participated in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation haircut fiesta at the Tree House on April 13. The event, including several weeks of fundraising leading up to the haircuts, raised more than $12,700 for pediatric cancer research.
“St. Baldrick’s is the largest granter of funds for pediatric cancer research,” local organizer Craig Lusinger said. “We hope this event just keeps getting bigger each year.”
About five teams helped with the Marble Falls event. And at noon, more than a dozen people sat in one of the two barber chairs at the Tree House to undergo a buzz. Some of the participants allowed a friend or family member to give them a haircut, while Maxwell or Turner finished it off.
Lusinger, who participated in St. Baldrick’s events at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas the past several years before organizing one in Marble Falls, said it was good to see the number of people who turned out for it.
“It’s great to have this amount of support,” he said. “And one of the best things about it is the number of kids and teenagers who are participating, even getting their hair buzzed. When the kids get involved, it just shows how important this is.”
After Maxwell completed Guenter’s buzz, the firefighter stepped out of the barber’s chair, ran his hand across his stubbly head and laughed.
“Man, I’ve been waiting for this,” he said. “It feels good.”
For more information on St. Baldrick’s or to make a donation, go to www.stbaldricks.org.
daniel@thepicayune.com
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Robert Nelson gives his son Wyatt Nelson a buzz cut during the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser April 13 at the Tree House in Marble Falls. The younger Nelson was one of several youthful participants who gave up their hair to help raise money for pediatric cancer research. For more information or to help, go to www.stbaldricks.org. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
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Treyton Buckley, a fourth-grader of R.J. Richey Elementary School in Burnet, sports his buzz April 13. Buckley gave up his locks in memory of a childhood friend who died from cancer. Buckley and more than a dozen people got buzz cuts during the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser at the Tree House in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
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Becky Turner of Haircuts Xpress puts the finishing touches on Cobey Lusinger‘s ‘trim’ during the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser. The Marble Falls event raised more than $12,000 for pediatric cancer research. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
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Tanya Maxwell ‘trims’ Marble Falls firefighter Andy Sanguinet‘s hair during the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser at the Tree House in Marble Falls on April 13. The event raised money for pediatric cancer research. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
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Kade Walker (left) and his mother, Chea Nichols, look on as Tanya Maxwell gives Marble Falls Fire Rescue Capt. Coy Guenter a much-needed haircut. Walker and Guenter helped raise funds for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which provides money for pediatric cancer research. Walker, after watching Guenter’s hair cut, took the chair next to the fireman and enjoyed his own buzz cut. For more information on St. Baldrick’s, go to www.stbaldricks.org. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
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