Waggin' Trail: The Big Shave Off

Every year the "World's Greatest Shave" charity event is a big deal in Meekatharra, most of the town turns up at the Commercial Hotel and various volunteers armed with clippers get to work. Each of the shavees gets their mates to sponsor them on their sign up sheet & hand over cash - get in quick, because after a few beers people have given most of their money away!

You can choose to have any part of your body shaved or waxed in public - old Jenke got his chest waxed on the pool table, while the really hairy guys got done out on the footpath out front. Some of the local guys, including Paul the hardware store manager and Tony my electrician, set up their band and entertained us all with truckin' hits. After several beers I decided I needed to hear them have a go at Duelling Banjos, which they did (very, very badly) to much hilarity from the pub crowd.

Gary cajoled me into being his sponsorship manager, so I made up a sheet & took it around. On the sheet you're supposed to write what bit they're going to have shaved or whatever, so I put "wax his pubes" on it to be cheeky. Greg said "Gawd I'd pay him NOT to do it" so that became the selling point and I raised $170. Gary was in hysterics when he found out.

At one point Gary whispered in my ear, "I'm just popping home for a minute" with a naughty smile and I wondered what he was up to - he came back with his harmonica collection and hid in the corner, playing along secretly to the band. I dobbed him in to Tony and we got the whole pub chanting & yelling for him to get up and play at the microphone. He did OK! Then Tony made him do a solo, and the pub crowd went nuts - he was really, really good! He was beside himself, never having played in front of anyone before, and he ended up with two groupies - a two year old who was fascinated by the instrument, and old Joan, one of my meals on wheels clients, who came up and shook his hand effusively.

Then Judy's husband Tom got up and had a go at Cold Chisel; Judy and I were in hysterics as the beer intake increased with a resultant decline in music quality but everyone had a ball. I think my highlight moment was standing at the bar when a hairy old miner said "Crikey, reckon we could get a bit o' dancin in here!" He looked around at me and the 2 other women who were apparently alone among the crowd of blokes and said to his mates, "Yer there's a few spare wimmin here, oi reckon we could do orright!" He sounded like Yosemite Sam.