December 3, 2014
Kingaroy RSL’s Tobruk Room was bristling with moustaches on Friday night.
The occasion was a Mo Party to mark the end of the RSL’s Movember fund-raising drive, and to judge which entrants had produced the most luxuriant crop of facial hair since the starting gun “shave-off” on November 1.
About 60 keen supporters came along to enjoy a night of good-natured variety entertainment headed by the South Burnett’s own Elvis (Jeff Hancox), stand-up comedian and compere Andrew O’Toole, Highland pipers Ross Pace and Col Cosma from The Clan, and magician Trevor Ballin, all of whom donated their services for the night.
Jeff sang the Elvis classics, Andrew shared humorous insights on the mixed joys of going for a prostate check-up, The Clan delivered a lively medley of Scottish tunes and Trevor Ballin kept the audience spellbound with more than a dozen baffling magic tricks.
After that, judges lined up the nine hardy entrants who’d devoted the month to growing bushy moustaches.
All the entrants were raising funds for Movember, an annual Australia-wide event designed to raise awareness about men’s health issues, in particular prostate cancer, which affects one in seven men during their lifetime.
Judges Damien Tessmann, Mike Barrett and Debbie Sommerfeld kept the audience in stitches as they scored each contestant.
Competition was so close that several entrants had to be called back on stage for “moustache-offs”, with Judge Sommerfeld carefully feeling a few to judge texture, body and bounce.
In the end, Kingaroy RSL chef Jamie Matthews was judged the 2014 winner.
The night concluded when Kingaroy resident Owen Townsend came on stage to lose all his locks at the hands of SG Hair Design’s staff after losing a public challenge he’d issued when this year’s local Movember effort kicked off, (see below).
Organisers Liarne Hablutzel, Andrew O’Toole and Matthew Sentance said that this year’s Movember effort was the best to date, raising about $4730 for the cause.
- Related article: Close Shave Launches Movember
[UPDATED with correction]
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A Movember Story: How Owen Lost His Locks…
Movember is all about “manning up” for a good cause. And one of the heroes of this year’s fund-raising effort was Kingaroy bus driver Owen Townsend who publicly vowed he’d get his moustache, beard, hair and eyebrows shaved off if this year’s Movember effort raised more than $1000.
To the organiser’s delight (and Owen’s too, he admitted), the month-long drive raised $3500 by the time the doors opened for Friday night’s Mo Party.
True to his word, Owen submitted to the tender attentions of SG’s Hair Designs’ staff in front of the crowd for a big cut and shave, emerging a short time later with a dapper new look just in time for summer.
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