School Celebrates Decade of Hairy Gains

Do something enough times and it becomes a tradition, and thanks to Amsterdam School teacher Lisa Caudill, the school's annual event cutting hair to benefit the Locks of Love program is now clearly a tradition.

Former students returned to the school Wednesday, ready with locks to be shorn and donated to the non-proft that uses the hair for wigs, which are presented to kids with long-term hair loss.

Students, like Hillsborough High School senior Daria Grastara, who gave hair while at Amsterdam, then later—and returned to once again contribute to the project.

"I learned something really important: the act of giving," she said of her first experience giving her hair to Locks of Love. "We share a sense of nervousness—how will it look when it's cut?

"But most of all, a feeling of happiness," she added.

Some of the 70 participants participating this year were clearly still in the nervous phase, with a few tears shed after the cuts, but most danced and cheered after getting shorn.

During a presentation at the beginning of the event, Caudill highlighted the decade of Locks of Love programs the school has held with a slideshow of previous' years donors, and some of this year's donors stating why they're helping.

She also noted the program counts 413 donors through the years, who have donated 4,130 inches of hair—more than the length of a football field—and collected almost $4,000 in monetary donations as well. This year's addition, with 70 participants, is about 58 feet...and $2,080 in donations.

"Every year, it just seems to get a little bit bigger and a little better," Caudill told the students.

Cutting the hair was left to Melanie Gladwell, Joyce Chedid, Patti Levonaitis, Sue Van Pelt and professional stylists Crista Vizzoni, of the Hair Plus Salon Donna DeLucia, of Beauty Solutions... and two special stylists: husbands Brian Caudill and Kevin Levonaitis came in to cut their wives' hair.