See Page A3 for a related story on Mayor Walter Sendzik’s beard
Mayor Walter Sendzik’s new facial hair was unsettling enough for Jim Bradley to point it out to an audience Tuesday.
“I’d like to explain for some of you that my mayor didn’t just crawl out of the wilderness somewhere,” the St. Catharines MPP said to laughter during a funding announcement at Brock University.
“There’s actually something behind that.”
Turns out the normally cleanshaven Sendzik is growing a beard for charity and in honour of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, who has terminal brain cancer.
Sendzik held his annual charity golf tournament Monday and decided to raise some extra money by auctioning off his new beard.
Tom Rankin, CEO of Rankin Construction Inc., placed a winning bid of $5,500 to have Sendzik grow the facial hair for another 11 weeks. The money is going to the Walker Family Cancer Centre.
Sendzik posted a video on social media Tuesday promising to provide updates of the growth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #BeardForGord.
“I want to give a special shoutout to Gord and Tragically Hip as they embark on their Canadian tour,” Sendzik says in the video. “We’re thinking about you Gord and this is our way here in St. Catharines from the mayor’s office to give back and help out.”
The hairy mayor got some ribbing from fellow politicians Tuesday during a funding announcement for a new fibre optic network.
Bradley said he was glad there was a good story behind the beard because he thought Sendzik “just crawled over here from wherever you came from.”
Niagara Region Chair Alan Caslin quipped after Bradley’s comment that he was glad he took the time to shave that morning.
“Walter, sorry about that, but it’s July, not November,” he said, referring to the popular Movember event in which men grow moustaches for prostate cancer awareness and charities.
St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle said he didn’t know he was supposed to get in a Sendzik beard dig, but had some advice if a councillor approaches the mayor and poses a difficult question.
“He can say, ‘That’s a very interesting question. It requires three beard strokes before I answer,’” Bittle said, acting it out.