Editor delightedto tear stripsoff reporter!

While part of me congratulates beautician Jenni Gardiner on the thorough job, the other part of me is worried it may never grow back. After all, the last time I visited the hairdressers to get a blade one all over I was promised it would grow back. The reason I got my legs waxed was to help raise some money for Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. To that end, the fun day in Boots in Moira was a great success, boosting the charity’s coffers by around £2,000. Having watched the first guy get waxed, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park. Philip Semple barely flinched as his legs were stripped of all foliage. I went next and within seconds was regretting my charitable nature. My pain threshold was nowhere near as high as I thought. Oooos and aaahhs were greeted with laughter from the assembled crowd and rather than get accustomed to the pain, it seemed to get progressively worse up to the point where I was ready to quit after one leg. To add insult to injury at one point Lurgan Mail editor Clint Aiken, who was videoing the event for the website, was given the chance to pull off one of the waxing strips - a chance he grabbed with both hands. Colin Lyness was the next waxee and I was pleased to watch him squirm and squeal every bit as much as I did. I’d joked prior to the event that male leg waxing was the most tame way to generate money for charity - lying on your back and getting a free beauty treatment. By the end of it, with my legs as smooth as when I’d been at primary school, I too felt as humbled as that little schoolboy who thought he knew it all. I ate my words on Friday afternoon and that evening washed them down with a few beers. The leg waxing formed the main entertainment in Boots in Moira on the afternoon while Facemates NI provided facepainting while Boots staff completed a marathon on the treadmill. There was also a raffle and a Guess The Weight Of The Cake competition. Later that night a disco took place in The Four Trees. Susan Cooke, who organised the event in memory of her late husband Colin, said: “To everyone who came along and helped out or who took part can I say a massive thank you. “There are too many people to thank individually but the three brave (or not so brave) souls who followed in Colin’s footsteps and had their legs waxed need a special mention for the entertainment value so thank you Philip Semple, Graeme Cousins and Colin Lyness. Still doing a final count but it is looking as if we raised close to £2,000. “A really fitting way to celebrate what would have been Colin’s 47th birthday.”