Knox County Cuts Hair for Locks of Love By Staci English A Locks of Love cut-a-thon was held at Knox County Elementary School on March 17th. A total of 29 students, parents, faculty and staff parti

Knox County Cuts Hair for Locks of Love
By Staci English
 
A Locks of Love cut-a-thon was held at Knox County Elementary School on March 17th.  A total of 29 students, parents, faculty and staff participated to donate hair and raise awareness for Locks of Love.  Smokebusters sponsored t-shirts for each of the participants and Samantha Woods and Billie Hunter from Styles And More provided free finish-up haircuts.  Special community members Tucker Bryant and Byron Hines performed the official cuts.     
Locks of Love is a non-profit agency that benefits cancer patients by making wigs from donated hair.  Many people in the community have already donated to Locks of Love individually.  This event allowed everyone to come together for a county-wide donation.  
Participants included Rebecca Anderson, Tadym Mason, Jessica Anderson, Shelby Walker, Jacobi Miller, Nash Miller, Emma Hisle, Quinton Ashburn, Zane Hubble, Abigail English, Taylor Huffman, Shania Ewalt, Bailey Hunziker, Deianara Burgess, Matthew McLaughlin, Riley Poston, Andrew Walton, Tyler Kelsey, Brandon Holman, Mrs. Staci English, Mrs. Kathy Wever, Mrs. Kathy Overton and Elementary Principal, Mrs. Marty Strange.  Donating hair already cut were Krystal Wenger, Mackenzie Becker, Mrs. Carolyn Primm, Mrs. Casey James, Lani Watts and Ashley Stribling.  
Students cut their hair for a variety of reasons.  Some have relatives dealing with cancer, others felt it would be a way for them to help people, and some decided it would be fun and a great way to raise awareness for the Locks of Love program.  A total of 115 inches was cut to send to Locks of Love!     
Highlights of the event included t-shirts and water bottles being thrown into the crowd by Smokebuster students, Riley Poston shaving his head, and Tucker Bryant and Byron Hines cutting off their principal’s hair!  Byron was enjoying himself so much that he said he is now thinking of becoming a barber when he gets older.  Whether cutting off 12 inches or just a couple, everyone who participated should feel extremely proud of their contribution and the people they helped just by getting a haircut!