PORT ANGELES — The buzz of an electric razor echoed throughout the Clallam County Courthouse lobby Wednesday as two elected officials and two county employees got their hair cut off in support of the United Way of Clallam County.
The extreme haircuts also showed support for Clallam County Commissioner Steve Tharinger, who is undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma and had his head shaved earlier this fall.
“It is definitely cooler — this will take some getting used to,” Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman said as he pulled his United Way stocking cap down over his ears.
“But it is for a great cause . . . and this is a great way to support Steve.”
Chapman, Rob Robertsen, elected community development director, Joe Ciarlo, emergency services director, and Bruce Emery, a county planner, agreed to buzz their heads if county employees reached $12,000 in their campaign for United Way.
The goal was met late Tuesday afternoon, so off came the locks on Wednesday.
100 watch hair-cutting
About 100 county staff and community members cheered as barbers Corinne Winters of Corinne’s Clipper and Style of Port Angeles and Joe Fazio of Sequim Beauty Salon shaved the men’s heads.
The barbers waived their fees to support the United Way and Tharinger.
“My own son is afraid of me,” Chapman said halfway through his haircut, when Winters fashioned a blond Mohawk.
Anders Chapman, 5, said he was not scared of his dad’s new look, but said it was definitely different.
For Robertsen, the haircut will also take a little getting used to.
“When I stepped outside I could feel the difference, especially on the sides of my head where my hair used to be,” he said.
“The top, which was mostly bare to start with, has acclimated over the years.”