Dads get scruffy for fundraiser

Facial hair is sprouting at Roosevelt Elementary School, as dads and even moms and students participate in its first Moustache-A-Thon.

The fundraiser is for the Roosevelt Elementary PTA, and will culminate on the school's auction night, March 15, where prizes will be awarded.

"There will be one for the most money raised by whiskers," said PTA volunteer Gail Pollock. "And we'll have awards for best celebrity lookalike, most like Teddy Roosevelt, the 'best little moustache that could.' "

The Moustache-A-Thon is a tribute to the school's namesake, Theodore Roosevelt.

In mid-February, the participants all shaved (if necessary) and every Wednesday, the participants gather at Plenty in downtown Olympia to assess beard growth and take photos.

The PTA set up a Web site with all the participants' photos, where people can track beard progress and donate money under individual participants. The money goes toward the PTA programs, which includes activities for kids and purchasing equipment for the classroom.

Moms and children also are taking part in the fundraiser, either as helping with the Web site, or growing "moustaches," which have been drawn or pasted on upper lips.

"The kids were volunteering," Pollock said. "They were saying, 'I want to be a farmer, too.' "

Roosevelt parent Jonathan Turlove had been clean-shaven for the past five or six years, when he joined the fundraiser.

Turlove said that he has rustled up donors by answering questions about his facial hair.

"When I started looking scruffy, people would ask if I was growing a beard," said Turlove.

He would respond: "It's a Moustache-A-Thon. Contribute. it's a good cause for the school."

Turlove said that participating also has been a good way for Roosevelt parents to get to know one another.

"It's been a fun way to socialize with people at the school, and the principal and the parents."

Parent Keith Edgerton has been getting creative with his weekly check-ins.

"I'm doing a Franz-Josef — it's a moustache that connects to sideburns. There's nothing on my chin," he said. It started with a pencil moustache.

"It requires a lot of time before the mirror with a sharp razor. But then several people showed up with the same look," he said.

"I sent out an e-mail to friends and family and co-workers and gave them an update on how I suffered razor burns and gashes," he said. "It's been a fun conversation. I haven't had facial hair in a couple of years. So I get questions, 'Did you just come from a monster truck rally?' "