THON 2010: Springfield Goes Bald for THON

Check the StateCollege.com THON page for more coverage of THON 2010.

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Springfield THON is recognizable by many things: its large membership, rank as one of the top fundraising groups and shaved heads.

Members of Springfield met in the basement of Atherton and have one last hurrah by shaving the heads of all the male dancers the night before THON.

THON dancer Brittney Kern describes the event: 

Springfield’s Spirit Week of Madness 2010 was pretty fantastic and included events like a potluck dinner, poster making (to display THON weekend), and even a private viewing of the Four Diamonds Movie. Thursday night’s event, however, trumped all. It was the legendary Springfield Head Shaving event.

Male Springfield dancers shaving their heads the night before THON has been a tradition since the formation of Springfield back in 2001. Though it died out for a few years, THON 2008 saw the rebirth of the event, and this year’s was a new record. We had 11 Springfield guys shave their heads, FTK!

About 50 or so Springfielders came out to watch as two of Springfield’s dancers and nine other Springfield members were shaven clean by a few of the Springfield girl chairs. I was honored to shave three or four heads, including that of Springfield President Jeff Szklinski.

The highlights of the night include one member, Joe Streb, shaking and holding a male friend’s hand as his hair was buzzed off in giant clumps. Another was convincing a member, Marcos Hernandez, to shave his head, though he was not even considering it. Springfield freshman Ali Yousef was terrified for his mom to see his new haircut, despite everyone’s reassurance that his hair should always be buzzed short.

All in all, it was a fantastic event, and it was a great way to count down the few remaining hours before the start of THON 2010!