Brian Bartz admits it will be strange looking in a mirror and not seeing a wild forest of hair on his chin – but he reckons his big shave is for a good cause so will be well worth it.
The Derrimut resident will take part in the World’s Greatest Shave on Friday, March 17, taking a razor to his whiskers to raise money for cancer research.
He said there were mixed feelings in his family about seeing him clean shaven for the first time since high school.
“I’ve had facial hair ever since high school, either a goatee or a beard of some sort,” he said.
“My mum doesn’t like it, my sister doesn’t like it and my wife loves it,” he said.
“My son has never seen me without facial hair … I thought, why not get rid of it? It’s a good cause as well, so that’s an added bonus.”
Due to his short stature and full beard, Mr Bartz has become affectionately known to friends and family as “Gimli”, a reference to the famous dwarf from
Lord of the Rings.
His beard’s most recent incarnation has been three years in the making, but losing it will be a small sacrifice.
“I know that a lot of families struggle with cancer and are affected by it, but I’ve been lucky that my family has been untouched by it,” he said.
“I heard the ads for the charity every day on the radio, so that’s where I got the idea and I decided to sign up.
“I mentioned it to the missus that I was thinking of doing it and she said, ‘Yeah go for it, but if you do it you have to take it all off’ – so that’s what we’re doing.”
Mr Bartz is hoping to raise more than $1200 with the shave.
Details: www.worldsgreatestshave.com
