Who you calling bald? St. Baldrick’s event in Utica raises money to fight childhood cancer

He wasn’t going to do it. Shave his head? No, thank you.

But in the end, Utica police Lt. Jay Quinn sat in an elevated chair Sunday at Senica’s Oak Ridge Golf Club in La Salle and let a stylist apply the clippers until his locks were shorn.

“Oh, I just needed a haircut,” Quinn said.

And it was for a good cause. Quinn’s change of heart helped EMS companies in the Illinois Valley raise more than $5,200 to fight pediatric cancers.

This is something you can do to be really proud of yourself.
— Ralph Moshage, rural Utica

Even more impressive, organizers have amassed more than $250,000 to fund cancer research in more than 19 (and counting) St. Baldrick’s Day fundraisers.

Ralph Moshage of rural Utica has done his share to reach the quarter-million mark.

Moshage was a longtime scout leader whose kids wanted to help cancer-stricken children. Moshage’s teams have raised $45,000 and he’s personally been shaved 15 times.

Mike Porter, vice president of Eureka Saving Bank, has his head shaved during the 19th annual Illinois Valley Emergency Services Annual St. Baldrick's Event on Sunday, March 22, 2026 at Senica's Oak Ridge in La Salle. Porter has been shaving his head for St. Baldricks for 15 years. — Mike Porter, vice president of Eureka Saving Bank, has his head shaved during the 19th annual Illinois Valley Emergency Services Annual St. Baldrick's Event on Sunday, March 22, 2026 at Senica's Oak Ridge in La Salle. Porter has been shaving his head for St. Baldricks for 15 years and raised over $1,000 for this years event. (Scott Anderson)

“This is something you can do to be really proud of yourself,” he said. “Those kids need all the support we can give them.”

St. Patrick’s Day dates back to 461 A.D., but St. Baldrick’s Day is a much newer observance. Just as St. Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland, a group of New York business associates decided in 1999 to help drive children’s cancer off the planet.

The first event took place in Manhattan in 2000. The inaugural event raised $104,000, which was donated to the Children’s Oncology Group. Within two years, St. Baldrick’s Day raised more than $1 million. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has, since 2005, raised more than $369 million for pediatric cancer research.

Donors in the Illinois Valley decided to participate in 2007.

Utica Fire Chief Ben Brown recalled that his department put on a chili supper and, having learned of St. Baldrick’s Day online, decided it would be a fun way to support a worthy cause.

“And it’s kind of blown up,” Brown said. “The area emergency services took off with it.”

Brown has been shorn each time St. Baldrick’s Day has been held. He had no misgivings about doing so on Sunday, even with the temperatures set to slip below 40 degrees Sunday night. A knit cap might be required to offset the chill.

“Hair grows back,” he shrugged.

Sarah Patyk of Tonica was among the professional stylists who wielded the clippers. She’s been a St. Baldrick’s Day volunteer for more than two decades. Nobody, to date, has exclaimed, “What have you done to me?”

“It’s always a fun time,” Patyk said. “It’s interesting to see all of the people, especially the women, who are willing to grow the hair out and shave it all off in one day.”