To raise funds, hair's a really good idea

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- It started out as a challenge to members of his Cub Scout Pack to improve their grades.
Dana Wagner, 36, cubmaster of Pack 65, was looking for a way to get the scouts, between ages 6 and 11, to improve their schoolwork.
He has long hair, extending down to the middle of his back, and offered to cut it if all 55 boys would bring up their grades.
He enlisted the support of some other male scout leaders to make similar promises. Den leader Jim Bell and den leader and assistant cubmaster Kevin Anderson agreed to the haircut while assistant den leader Pat Cunningham agreed to shave off his beard.
They made good on their promises at the pack's annual Blue and Gold Banquet on Friday at Shenango Township Grange.
Doing more: Somewhere along the way, the men decided that just cutting their hair wasn't enough.
They wanted to give it more meaning and came up with a revised plan that would also have their scouts working to help others in their community.
"We decided to donate the hair to Wigs for Kids through the American Cancer Society," Wagner said.
They didn't stop there.
Wagner said the pack wanted to make more of a contribution and worked out an arrangement with a vendor to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of candles the pack bought as awards for its leaders to the American Cancer Society.
The banquet tables were decorated with daffodils purchased through the America Cancer Society's Daffodil Days program and the pack will also donate $1 to the cause for every scout and leader.
Winning cutting rights: To top it off, Wagner said the pack conducted a raffle to see which scout gets the right to cut his hair. Those proceeds will also go to the cancer society.
The scouts put in their time on their schoolwork to ensure that the haircuts happened.
"These kids are trying their darndest to do it," Wagner said earlier in the week.
The leaders changed the rules a bit for the scouts, requiring them to improve just their lowest grade, and about 90 percent did so, Wagner said.
What's more important is that all of the kids made an effort to make a difference in someone's life, and that' s something the pack has always emphasized, Wagner said.
Not all of the hair cut during the banquet will go to Wigs for Kids.
Length requirement: Wagner said the organization has a 6-inch minimum length requirement.
Anderson just made that mark, but Bell's hair wasn't long enough.
However, he did allow his "barber" to give him a Mohawk haircut.
Wagner, who put his hair in a ponytail and allowed it to be chopped off at the top of his head, estimates he gave up 14 inches of hair. It was his first haircut in 10 years.
Wagner, who works at Wheatland Tube Co. and has his own trucking business, said his last two haircuts were 12 years ago when his son Michael was born, and 10 years ago when his son Todd was born.
He gave up a ponytail each time, signifying their births.