Locks of Love

CVB Employees, Friends Shave Heads to Show Support for Co-worker with Cancer

Grey hair. Newly-dyed red hair. Newly-highlighted brown hair. Auburn hair. Black hair. All were a precious pile of support that fell to the floor Wednesday of the South Padre Island Convention Centre’s Exhibit Hall.

Dixie Rowell, meeting and event coordinator for the SPI Convention and Visitors Bureau, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2005. Just recently, her chemotherapy treatments resulted in hair loss.

And, her co-workers and friends didn’t want her to go through it alone.

“We told her that if she lost her hair to chemotherapy that we’d shave our heads,” said CVB Services Coordinator Sally Garza. “She thought we had forgotten about it, but here we are. We’re going to keep shaving it until her hair comes back.”

Rowell said it could be up to nine months before her hair grows back.

“We figured it would be that long,” Garza replied.

Eight CVB employees and friends lined up Wednesday as CVB Deputy Director Connie Ledbetter shaved them one by one. She then took a turn at the receiving end.

Laughter and tears filled the exhibit hall as the newly bald-headed supporters inspected each other’s heads for childhood scars and bumps. Each of them gave Rowell a hug expressing their encouragement.

This isn’t the first show of support Rowell received. Walk for Women, a local organization dedicated to helping local residents who have breast cancer, gave her a $3,000 check just before Christmas.

“Their donation eased our worries,” Rowell said. “It was a huge Christmas present. We worried about deductibles, insurance and premiums. Walk for Women helped us a great deal.”

The organization had also previously paid for gasoline to ease the expense of going to the treatments.

“It’s a very good feeling that there’s an organization that cares that much about women,” Rowell said.

Rowell also thanks her husband SPI Fire Chief and Assistant City Manager Clifford Rowell and her son Allen for their love and support.

But the actions of her bald-headed, bandana-wearing friends really touched her.

“You guys are crazy,” she told them as they lined up for a group photo.

They all hugged her.

“Anytime,” seemed the common response.