This November, lip foliage ran rampant through the town of Jasper, as men of all ages did their part to raise awareness and funds for prostate and testicular cancers.
Jasper had two Movember teams: the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade and Sawridge 2014, with a total of 32 “Mo Bros” accepting the challenge to grow the best ‘stache in 30 days.
To celebrate the month of whiskers and awareness, the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre hosted a Movember Gala Nov. 30 and crowned the man with the best 30-day mo.
Selecting the winning hairy lip was a group of hand-selected women from the crowd. The ladies gathered together in front of the stage to get a good look at the moustached men and then, after much deliberation, named Clayton Syfchuck the king of Movember.
The decision came as a surprise to many, as Greg Van Tighem had dyed his handlebar moustache bright pink for the occasion—matching it to his bow tie.
As well as the moustache contest, the evening also boasted silent and live auctions to raise funds for Movember.
In total, the gala raised just under $10,000. That’s on top of the funds raised by each of the teams: $5,894 by the fire brigade and $1,840 by the Sawridge team.
The top earner out of the two teams was Jocelyn Nadeau, who brought in $1,089 for the charity. Sean Fitzgerald was a close second with $1,010.
Jasper has participated in the cause before, but this year the community’s support has taken off. That is in part because of Pierre Frigon, the sales manager at the Sawridge Inn.
Frigon was diagnosed with prostate cancer last December, after receiving a routine checkup that showed his prostate-specific antigens (PSAs) were unusually high. His cancer was diagnosed early, and by March he was in the hospital undergoing surgery. Nine months later, his PSAs have decreased to normal levels.
After his experience, Frigon decided he wanted to do something to raise awareness and remove the stigma around men’s health. So, he propositioned his co-workers and off they went, organizing a month’s worth of events that culminated with the gala on Nov. 30.
Nicole Veerman
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