Buy A Baldy

Behind the Scenes

2006-06-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

I took a few minutes to write about the marketing behing Buy Baldy.

Take a minute and check it out!

Jason is a Baldy too!

2006-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Cami's cousin, Mandy married Jason, who now has joined the Baldy ranks! Thanks Jason!!! I took their photos from their blog (tay-tay-young.blogspot.com) along with the following description from Mandy:

Cami amazes me with how brave she's been through this whole thing. I'm so proud!!

Well this morning he woke up at 6:45 and said "Today is the Day"!! I was still kinda out of it, so I had no idea what he was talking about. All the sudden I hear the clippers going in the bathroom. I ran in to take some pictures and see if he was really going to do it. So I don't have a before shot, but there are some "in progress" and after shots for all to enjoy. I guess he's gotten some comments at school regarding his new haircut. He said people start out giving him a hard time but once he explained why he did it and that it's not just a haircut gone wrong, people feel kinda bad. So he's having a good time letting people feel bad for teasing him :)

And So It Ends

2006-06-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

It's the 13th - the last official day of Buy A Baldy.

Thank you for all who participated. Our donations have far exceeded our original goal of only $500.

Thanks to those who donated money and also to those who donated their hair.

Donations will continue to be accepted for all you late comers!

Thanks again!!

And the First Shall be Last

2006-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Looks like Dennis finished the job (in more ways than one) and thus ends the hair of all the original Baldies.

Here's what Joan has to say about it:

After Dennis saw Riley's pictures, and being asked by people when they were going to get to see him bald, he came home last night begging to be shaved! Carli took most of the photos--you'll notice that his "before" pictures are the same as everybody else's "grandpa" photos, but since he's the grandpa that's the way it should be, right? I did most of the buzzing, Craig did some, and then Dennis did most of the shaving. I finished up the shaving in the back and since everyone else has already been through it, I was able to be bold, too, and do it with a smile on my face. It's that first close cut with the clippers
that's the hardest since it goes against everything you've ever done before!

After that it was easy and even kind of fun. Knowing we were following so many good examples and that it was for a good cause helps, too. I am still wondering if an of you are going to continue wearing this close-cut hairdo just because it's easy and breezy!

Craig came in and posed a few times with his dad for father/son pictures. Craig's is growing out so much already, though, that he looks positively hairy next to his dad. It's only been a week since Craig went boldly bald, so that should be comforting to those of you who are worried about it growing back!

Baldies Galore

2006-06-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

Riley took the plunge today. The Brinkerhoffs were in town this weekend to see Jack and they asked him when he was going bald. So he told his sister Chelsey that she could shave him right then if she wanted. So of course everyone jumped all over that and we had an impromptu shaving session! And let me tell you--it grew into more than just Riley. His brother Garrett decided he wanted to get it in on things too. So Riley shaved Garrett and by the time he was done Riley's nephew Brayden decided that he was ready to do it too!

When Brayden was done we talked ourselves into putting Isaac in the shaving chair next. Riley did the deed and Isaac was sort of freaked out by it at first. I put him and finally Riley's Dad joined the group at the very end. It was such a nice gesture from everyone (well Isaac didn't really have much say I guess:) and turned something that I was kind of scared to do into quite the party!

While the boys were being shaved Sherrie shared a few things with us about her Mom and aunt who both had breast cancer. She told us that she and Chelsey participated in the Relay for Life this past year. I just think it's interesting that once your life has been touched by cancer--wether it's you or someone you love--your take on efforts to help fight it suddenly changes.

So thanks to the Brinkerhoff men for being so spontaneously brave and making such a party out of it.

Brian's Behairing

2006-06-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Cori reports:
There were some interesting differences between shaving Camdon and shaving Brian. The most noticeable was how easy it was to use the razor on Brian's head. On Camdon's head we really had to apply pressure and Brian wound up doing it because it was kind of bothering me. But Brian's scalp is nice and slick, or maybe it's just that there was less hair to shave...:)

Brian was a great sport. We'd talked about just buzzing it since he has a course to teach next week, but Hannah wouldn't hear of it. She was ready for the razor! We did the whole package and I think he looks great. It was very nice to wake up next to a bold baldy this morning.

Brian's only commentary:
1. Shaving a permanently affixed toupee is trickier than one might think, especially when you get down to the webbing...(it was time for a new me anyway).
2. Sporting the Dallin H. Oaks look is just that, a look, I don't feel any smarter.
3. It would not be prudent to have a family reunion anytime soon for fear of being misidentified as an extremist group.
4. We guys just lost it on top, which is enough from a man's perspective. From a woman's perspective, Cami has is it great with the hair thing...no more shaving legs or armpits ehhh?

Bonus Baldy

2006-06-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Doug took the plunge. He's just been waiting for me to come around I think! I really didn't want him to at first because I didn't want ALL the adults in my house to be scary and ugly! However, when I saw how good the other men were turning out, I decided it was OK. Not so scary and ugly! It was hard making the first cut with the clippers. He'd let his hair get so long though, it HAD to come off one way or another! We video taped it and took pictures. Cora wasn't a big fan of the look, but she came around pretty soon. Holley, on the other hand, freaked out! She cried and ran away and wouldn't go anywhere near Doug. Finally, that night she peek into the kitchen at him and said, "Baldy." Doug told her he looked so nice and she kept telling him, "Ewww, nooooo!" But she laughed as she said it and has been fine ever since.

I also have to tell a funny thing. Holley saw a bald guy out the window the other day and she said, "Mama!"

Everyone at church was way impressed that Doug would go bald for me. He even had volunteers in the Elders Quorum who wanted to shave their heads too. One of them even suggested that he get in on the website action. We'll see if any of it happens, but it's a
nice thing to know that people here care too! One of my friends here used to be pretty wild and shaved her head before she had kids. She keeps threatening that she's going to do it again, but I keep telling her not to! I can accept brave men doing it, but I just don't think that women should ever be bald! Her husband is one of the ones who kept saying that he was coming to church on Sunday shaved so I may not be able to stop her from doing it!

It's been really interesting to have another baldy right here in our house. Nothing has made me feel braver than having someone else that I'm around all the time, know what it feels like to have no hair. Of course, his is already growing back, but it just really helps to have him here in the house with me, being bald all the time. I asked him to keep it bald until I start to grow my hair back. He was all for it! He told me yesterday that he's started to think of my baldness as just being a drastic, cutting edge kind of haircut. He said that he's going to be kind of sad when I start to grow it back. How nice is he?

Has anyone else discovered that they don't have a lot of feeling in their scalps? I thought it was just me, but Doug says that he doesn't feel very much on his head either. So I was just wondering if anyone else was discovering weird things about being bald. Looks like Doug has joined the ranks of the other Baldies!

--------------------
Andrew sez:
Personally I think this first one Doug looks like Jack Nicholson. :)

A Bold Baldy

2006-06-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

So last night was Camdon's big night. We invited a couple of families over and had some baldy treats then shaved his head. Several of the kids wanted to help so we took a page from Chris' book and let everyone who wanted a swipe take one. Then I finished it up. Camdon did a huge part by himself so that was kind of fun. He really wanted to try out the grandpa look so I've included a picture of that too.

In his own words:

Hi, guys! To Cami, Chris and Craig, I think you baldies know how I'm feeling right now! I would say that the baldies are really boldies! Ha ha ha. This morning I woke up, and my head stuck to my pillow (I had some Nelsborn on because of the razor and Dad's hard razoring)! I was mowing the lawn and the wind kept hitting my awesome bald head! See you baldies/boldies later.

Love,
Camdon the boldy/baldy

Well, it looks like we only have a few more heads to shave. Looking forward to accounts from Dennis, Brian and Riley. Looking forward to some more bold baldy shots, guys.

Brig the Baldy

2006-06-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Chris reports that after he shaved Brig's head, he was all excited that people would see him and think that Chris had shrunk or see Brig and think that he had gotten older "like a teenager."

Congratulations, Brig the Baldy!

Public Baldy - Chris gets Butchered

2006-06-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the big day. They absolutely butchered my head, so after all was said and done, we finished shaving it the rest of the way.

This picture is the first teacher who won the drawing.

It was kind of funny because all the kids were all excited to shave my head. We drew three names and the first name was our business ed teacher, the second name was our head football coach, and the final name was one of our p.e. teachers.

I thought we'd have a riot on our hands since no kids got their names drawn, but the business ed teacher took a swipe or two and then called a kid down out of the bleachers to finish his turn. Then our football coach kept calling kids down out of the stands. We ended up with all of next year's seniors who were in the gym coming down and taking their swipes. We even
had one girl take a crack at it.

Then we had the girls' softball coach (who also shaves his head) come down and work on it for a while and a couple of other teachers jumped at the chance to do some shaving.

Craig Takes the Plunge

2006-06-05T07:24:00.001-07:00

Thought you'd all like to see these! Or not! Craig's enthusiasm to follow Andrew's example was kind of contagious, but I was extremely glad his friend Christina was here to do the actual dirty deed! I decided at first not to watch, so Dennis was in charge of the first pictures. I was chatting with Crystal online when all of a sudden I heard hysterical laughter from the
back porch, were the initial buzzing was taking place. Laughter is good, I thought, so I went out to check and Christina and Dennis were in tears from laughing so hard while Craig was also laughing in spite of being freaked out by something. Turns out when Christina was looking at his head with the clippers still on there was this quick little "bzzzt" sound which came from her inadvertently getting too close to Craig's left eyebrow! There's a little teeny piece of his eyebrow missing, but it really wasn't that noticable. It looks like a little bitty scar from a manly adventure. Which, I guess in a way, it was!

Anyway, the deed is done and he was sort of enjoying it last night. The amazing thing is how much he looks like Cami. We all had to get on the blog after it was done and compare him to her picture! She's prettier, of course, but it is amazing how much they look alike. I don't think I'd realized that before! So, enjoy and work up your courage for when it's your turn. It's not that bad, we discovered!

Mom/Joan

Baldy #1 - Bought!

2006-06-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took the plunge and became an official Baldy! Caren cut my hair on Saturday when the kids were down for a nap. It kind of unnerved us both, but the deed is done.

Cutting my hair with the clippers took only about 5 minutes. Shaving it with a razor took closer to 25 by the time Caren had gone over it 3 times. So if you're going to bic it, plan ahead.

It's oddly liberating to be bald. I wanted to see what I looked like, as Calise put it, 'a grandpa.'

My head is cold - but not in a way like having cold arms or legs feels. It's more like someone put Vicks or mint extract on my head - an almost artificial cold.

It got a lot of attention at church. It's a good thing that I'd passed out fliers to get the word out so I didn't have to explain myself a million times to anyone who asked.

All in all it's been an interesting 24 hours! Thanks to everyone who donated! And to those who haven't but plan to, the donations are still open.

I'll post a highlights video as soon as I'm able.

Buckle up, fellow Baldies - you're next!

Brian is a Baldy!

2006-05-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

We're happy to welcome Brian to the Baldy line up. The Authorities gave him the green light this afternoon and he's now ready and willing to be a Baldy!

I don't know about you, but it seems like I should add a 'Nana nana naaa naaa' taunt to the end of that title.

Rumor Has It...

2006-05-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

I've heard from a number of people that sometimes after a shave, a full head of hair won't come back as thick.

I heard that from my brother who shaved his head after my sister's cancer (I didn't because I was in Germany and didn't want to be taken for a skin-head). According to him, his hair has never been the same.

A coworker also passed along a similiar story about his brother-in-law.

Not that I'm geting cold feet, mind.

Please comment on any related rumors!

Shave and a Haircut...$500

2006-05-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last night we hit the $500 mark!

The deadline is still 2 weeks away and the Green Lake raffle is next week. We still have time to push it even higher!

About Cami

2006-05-28T20:37:00.001-07:00

At the request of several people, I've written a brief synopsis of my experience with breast cancer so far. This is just to provide general information and will not address every question people will have for me.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2006. It is the direct result of radiation I received to treat congenital cancers as an infant. Having been in good health my entire life, I was shocked with the news even if the oncologist wasn't. Fortunately, my prognosis is very good and the chances for a normal and healthy life following treatment is excellent. I had a noticeable lump in my breast for more than a year, but we (doctors and myself included) were certain it was related to nursing and mastitis. So we let it go until other health problems after the birth of my third child forced us to take it seriously.
As prudence dictates, I'm following an aggressive treatment regime. I've had all known diseased and potentially-diseased tissues removed surgically. Upon recovery I began dose dense chemotherapy infusions. These bad boys started in April and will be done at the end of July. Following these I'll take a daily chemo pill for five years. Supposedly it has no noticeable side effects at all. Perhaps I will receive a schedule of radiation treatments as well. This is yet to be determined. Because my surgeries were successful, these treatments are meant only to minimize the chances of recurrence, not treat a specific known tumor.
I'm 30 years old with a husband in graduate school and three small children at home. My husband is taking a hiatus from school to care for our children and me until the worst of it is over. If you're interested in how much I love, respect, and admire him, I will be happy to email you hours and hours worth of pleasant reading. Our children are our great joy and distraction in all of this. They remind us that whatever else is happening, they still need all the things kids need. Smooches, squeezes, wrestles, boundaries, routine. They also don't care that I'm bald and have a highly unmotherly physique. Perhaps the best thing about our children right now is that they make it easy to laugh in the face of breast cancer. Whether it's the oldest child occassionally muttering "baldy" under her breath, or having the insight to shock the kids out of cranky spells by making them touch my head, the opportunities for humor are abundant!
There are already countless blessings that we've received as individuals and as a family since the beginning of this unexpected adventure. Because of the kind gestures of emotional and financial support we've received, we hope to come out of this conquering heroes and not just a bedraggled family who's managed to survive a beating!

Windows of Heaven

2006-05-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to offer my gratitude to everyone who has/will so generously helped me with my medical bills. I cannot believe how quickly and kindly (and secretively) this has been put into action! I can't spend much time on this site because inevitably I wind up bawling my eyes out over it. So thank you for being the very loving and practical means by which our Father in Heaven has opened the windows of heaven for us and poured out His blessings upon us.

Cami

Holy Money Batman!

2006-05-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

We're so near our goal of $500 already! In the next few days we'll likely exceed it, and we haven't even counted in Coach Schofield's raffles or any other cash that I'm unaware of.

I told Caren yesterday that if we reach $1,000 we ought to shave our eyebrows. Only kidding, fellow Baldies, only kidding.

Let's see how high we can push it before the 13th!

Better Browsing While Supporting Buy A Baldy

2006-05-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

A number of you out there are using Internet Explorer to view Buy A Baldy. If you are, you're really missing out on a great browsing experience. (Not only for this site but hundreds of thousands of other sites that don't render well on IE.)

In conjunction with Buy A Baldy, I've posted a button on the side of the page (the bottom of the page for all those IE users).

If you use this button to download the Firefox browser, Andrew will donate $1 to Buy A Baldy.

Get a better browsing experience, support Buy A Baldy.

You pretty much can't lose.

Cami's in on the secret!

2006-05-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

So far we've managed to keep this all hush-hush, but it looks like our cover's been blown!

Oh well, it's better to let her know what's going so she can get excited too - as well as give us some direction.

She asked us to post a picture of her new noggin. We also included our mugs.

Too bad we won't look that good bald....

Helping Mother Nature along

2006-05-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

Green Lake High School is holding a raffle in conjunction with Buy A Baldy. Here's the scoop from Coach Schofield:

During finals, some lucky student will get to finish what Mother Nature has already started.

A drawing will be held to see who gets to shave Coach Schofield’s head (the rest of the way).

Tickets are on sale now in the office at $5 each.

Enter as many times as you’d like to give yourself a better chance
at winning.

All proceeds will go to Coach’s sister to help offset medical costs as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer

If you have little, you have little to lose

2006-05-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

Dennis is the most recent to commit to becoming a full Baldy. We're guessing that not many people will notice, though.

We stand united with you, fellow Baldy.

Getting Baldies on Board

2006-05-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

So far we have Chris, Craig, Camdon and Andrew on board to become Baldys. I haven't heard from anyone else. Either their profession or their love of their remaining hair has kept them from fully committing. (Come on guys - what's a few weeks of baldness?)

I'm glad to hear that Camdon is ready to go. Camdon is Cami's 9 year old nephew and my fellow lego/Age of Empires fan. Good job for joining the balding ranks, oh nephew of mine.

Anyone else ready to go Bald?

New Items at CafePress

2006-05-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

We recently added a number of items to our CafePress store. In addition to t-shirts and items for kids, there are also stickers, bags and hats. By far the hats are the coolest. My personal favorite is the 'Trucker's Hat.' It's some fancy head gear.

All new items contain the Buy a Baldy 'Happy Dude' that's sure to garner at least a puzzled look from onlookers.

As a reminder, all proceeds go directly to pay for medication and other costs during Cami's chemo treatment.

Buying a Baldy

2006-05-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Cami, our sister/sister-in-law has cancer and we, as her brothers, have decided to do a good old fashioned sponsored head shaving.

In doing this we want to accomplish two things: to show Cami that even though she's lost her hair that she looks much better bald than we do. (Lucky...)

And we'd like to raise a few hundred dollars to help her pay for expensive cancer medications.

On the 13th of June, Chris, Andrew, Craig, Riley, Dennis, Camdon and Brig will be bald. And in the case of Dennis, just a little bit balder than he is now.

There are two ways of Buying a Baldy. 1) Donate via PayPal or buy a Buy A Baldy t-shirt to impress your friends and family. (See links to the left).

Look for more updates and photos in the next few weeks.

Please help us reach our goal of $500 by Buying a Baldy today!