PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The annual fundraiser Planet Head Day will go international this year with a simultaneous event in Poland.
The 12th annual Planet Head Day will be held on Saturday, March 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Gymnasium, with a “sister” event happening in Szczecin, Poland. This celebration of science education and cancer awareness, co-presented by UMPI and C-A-N-C-E-R (Caring Area Neighbors for Cancer Education and Recovery) locally and by Gryphius Institute and the University of Szczecin in Poland, is free and the public is invited.
The annual Presque Isle event raises funds for C-A-N-C-E-R when “PlanetHeads” collect pledges to have their heads shaved.
The international affair came together because of event co-organizer and co-founder Kevin McCartney’s recent Fulbright research year in Poland. During his time in Poland, he had his head shaved in support of the 2017 Planet Head Day in Maine. That sparked the inspiration to establish a similar Polish event.
Gryphius Institute — headed by a Rotarian friend of McCartney, Michael Glueck — conducted promotional events for the first Planet Head Day in Poland during the past year, which were strongly supported by geoscience faculty at the University of Szczecin. Under the patronage of the City of Szczecin, Planet Head Day in Poland will feature dignitaries from education, health care, administration and sports in a celebration of science and social engagement.
The city president, Piotr Krzystek, declared his readiness to have his head shaved in the first sitting together with McCartney, Glueck, and the president of Rotary Club Szczecin International, Matthias Schaedlich. All the funds raised by the PlanetHeads in Poland will be used for the urgent renovation of the children`s cancer hospital in Szczecin.
Because of the six-hour time difference, the head-shaving in Poland will begin at 4 p.m. local time. Planet Head Day activities in both locations will be simulcast, with McCartney providing an English introduction in Poland, and UMPI Professor Tomasz Herzog providing a Polish introduction in Maine. Other VIPs in the “first sitting” in Presque Isle will be Presque Isle City Manager Martin Puckett, Caribou Rotarian John Swanberg and Planet Head Day organizer Jim Stepp.
The second sitting will include prominent academics in both countries, and then the chairs will open to anyone.
More than 1,000 people over the years have donned theatrical bald caps or had their heads shaved and their favorite planet, dwarf planet, moon, comet or asteroid painted on their head. All told, the event has raised nearly $150,000 for local cancer education and relief, and has become one of the most widely known single-day fundraising events in northern Maine.
Planet Head Day is the major fundraising event for C-A-N-C-E-R, an Aroostook County-based grassroots organization. All monies raised stay in The County and help those recently diagnosed with cancer or who are in treatment for cancer with travel or other treatment-related expenses.
The March 10 event will include food, fun, door prizes, cake, and games for children. The staff of the Parsons Street Barber Shop and Great Beginnings Hair Boutique will provide free haircuts for those willing to shave their heads for the occasion, while “bald” caps will offer a less permanent option for participants. The bald heads that result are in recognition of and support for the many cancer patients who lose their hair during cancer treatment.
Live emceeing will be co-hosted by Michael Gudreau of Northeast Publishing, who will also have his head shaved to become a PlanetHead, and WAGM’s Shawn Cunningham. Pizza Hut will once again provide free pizza. As in years past, a photographer will be on hand to take before and after photographs of each PlanetHead so participants can have a keepsake to take home.
For more information about participating in the event or to assist with the head painting, contact Jim Stepp at 207-554-7837 or Susan Black with C-A-N-C-E-R at 207-764-4647.
For those who cannot attend the festivities, donations can be sent directly to C-A-N-C-E-R, P.O. Box 811, Presque Isle, ME 04769.
