Some 28 local residents were shaved bald last Friday, May 17, before a large, cheering crowd at the St. Baldrick's Day event at Fast Eddie's in Centreville. Giving big green hats and sunglasses to three young people currently battling cancer — Clifton teen Nick Franca, Centreville's Dalton Gulsby, 11, and Little Rocky Run's Brent Kiefer, 4 — event organizer Meg Crossett said, "This is why we do this; these are our heroes tonight."
The event raised $33,500 — nearly triple last year's total of $12,522 — for childhood cancer research. The two "shavees" raising the most money were Cub Run Elementary fourth-grader Kate Ratliff, $3,500, and Westfield High Principal Mike Campbell, $3,200. "I'm very happy with the results," said Crossett. "And next year, I'm challenging the principals from both Centreville and Chantilly high schools to participate."