The last time Ron Wiley shaved his beard was 21 years ago. He bet on the Buffalo Bills, who faced the Dallas Cowboys in the 1993 Super Bowl. “I thought, ‘No way in the world they could lose,’” he said.
The last time Ron Wiley shaved his beard was 21 years ago.
He bet on the Buffalo Bills, who faced the Dallas Cowboys in the 1993 Super Bowl.
“I thought, ‘No way in the world they could lose,’” he said.
Buffalo didn’t just lose. They got crushed, 52-17. So, the KONG radio personality shaved his beard, for the first time since 1980, in front of the station.
His smiling face has since been razor free — until Saturday night at the Hoedown for Hope to benefit the American Cancer Society. The opportunity to shave Wiley’s whiskers was one of the oral auction items and it commanded big bucks. Two $500 bids, one from Jose Aguayo and one from Lissa Lang, won the right to take the stage in the Kilohana Luau Pavilion and shave that famous beard before some 500 people.
Wiley, the ever-gracious good sport, grinned and laughed before and after, pleased to do his part to support the ACS.
“I was really afraid Jose would go for my eyebrows,” Wiley joked.
He returned to his morning KONG show, feeling what he called “partly naked.”
“I’m feeling a little cool in the chin,” he said.
“I feel self conscious, silly, awkward,” Wiley added. “It’s like wearing your pants too short.”
He grew his beard in 1966. Shaved it in 1980 for a role in a play on Oahu, and again in 1993 over that Super Bowl bet. He estimated that in the past four and a half decades, he’s been without a beard only five months.
But he agreed to Saturday’s shaving session at the request of his good friend, Aguayo, who was also a Hoedown for Hope committee member. Aguayo’s niece is battling cancer and that means all those who love her are battling cancer, too, Wiley said.
“I wanted to help him,” he said.
He also wanted to raise funds to honor the family of another cancer survivor, 11-year-old Kapaa Middle School student, Kaimani Dryer, his dad, Joel, his mom, Terri, and his brother, Nakoa.
“I wanted to make sure folks know that children here on Kauai also have cancer,” Wiley wrote.
When Aguayo approached Wiley about shaving his beard at the Hoedown, he agreed — maybe a little reluctantly.
“I thought I learned my lesson, never bet body parts,” he said, laughing. “My beard is me, everybody knows me that way.”
A save the beard campaign started by his wife Laura Wiley and friend Scott Douglass didn’t quite succeed, but did raise more money to help defeat cancer.
“Laura is a fan of the beard,” Wiley said.
Since Saturday, another $600 in ACS donations from KONG listeners has come Wiley’s way to honor his efforts, which pleases him. He glad to do what he can for those fighting cancer and highlight their cause. Matter of fact, he’s feeling pretty good about how things turned out with $1,600 raised for surrendering his trademark beard.
“I feel great. I owe Jose and the committee a bit of gratitude,” he said. “They gave me a creative, silly way to raise funds.”
Still, he’s had to endure a few jokes at his expense. He chuckles as he recounts the puns from listeners.
“Considering your face, you’re a brave man,” one said.
No worries.
“I am growing my beard back as we speak,” Wiley said.
He is a little concerned about the stubble that’s emerged thus far. But give it time. No razor worries for at least a few years.
“I do see little tiny hairs all over my face,” he said with a bit of relief.
