Connie Schwartz is ready to go bald - and this time, it's by choice.

About 10 years ago, Schwartz woke up to find clumps of hair tangled across her pillow; in the shower, hair fell out by the handfull. By the time she took a look in the mirror, there were only a few stubborn sprigs left.

It was the chemo and the drugs she was taking to combat her cancer. While she was dealing with her first diagnosis of cervical cancer, she was in denial about losing her long hair - until her doctor just told her to buckle down and cut it.

Two days after a teacher at a local hair college chopped Schwartz's ponytail off, the rest of her hair fell out.

"You lose every hair on the body," she said. "And it hurt. It was cold all the time. At work I would wear scarves and hats."

Schwartz fought and won against cancer three more times, losing all of her hair that first time. Ten years later, she has a healthy head of chin-length blonde hair to keep her noggin warm. But on March 17, if all goes well with a work fundraiser, she'll shave it all off herself.

In fact, on March 18, there are going to be a lot more bald heads running around Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

The power cooperative is participating in a hair-raising, or, more appropriately, hair-shaving, fundraiser for St. Baldrick's Foundation: workers set a fundraising goal they must meet before losing their locks for the cause, childhood cancer research.

Basin Electric's goal: $10,000. So far, 78 head-shaving employees have raised more than $24,000.

"It has taken off like wildfire," said Mary Klecker-Green with Basin. "Every day, more people are signing up."

Every day, more people at Basin are staring in the mirror, turning from side to side, contemplating their craniums and thinking "Yeah, I could go bald."

Like Levi Kom. If the bearded employee reaches his goal of $1,000, he'll do his dome and take off the face fuzz he's had since he was 16.

"My wife's never seen me without it," Kom, 26, said, rustling his at least 3-inch long, dark brown facial hair. And since she's never seen him without it, she's decided to actively collect money to see her spouse all clean-shaven.

Bern Tolosky, who hasn't cut his long hair in nearly two years, said his wife will "just be happy" that his long locks are gone.

"I just had a senior moment one day and thought … 'I'll see how long it's going to grow,'" he said of his shoulder-length salt-and-pepper hair. Then he began to hear about the St. Baldrick's event, and figured that he couldn't not do it.

His goal was $500, but people have donated $1,375 to see Tolosky's shining top.

Kim Jackson didn't think she'd raise so much money so quickly; she's up to about $1,200, and says she tries not to think about the fact that she'll be as bald as an Easter egg in time for the holiday.

The Basin Event started with a simple idea brought up by Emily McKay and blossomed into an event that spanned several of Basin's other plants and locations. Not only have 78 people signed up to shear their scalps, including several brave women, but about 10 women have volunteered to chop their locks to donate to Locks of Love.

"I've always known that the people at Basin are good to the core, but this really surpasses all of my expectations," Klecker-Green said.

It's not just Basin's headquarters in Bismarck that's involved; four other stations, plus several maintenance outposts have picked up the spirit.

So at 2 p.m. on what is typically St. Patrick's Day, the board room at Basin will turn into a makeshift salon for St. Baldrick's Day. Shavees will gather and take a last look at their locks before watching them fall to the floor.

Schwartz, who's come a long way since crying at hearing her diagnosis, then staring in shock at bald self in the mirror, said she's impressed with the entire Basin team. She's not upset about losing her hair this time, not worried that someone will grab off her scarf and see her naked head. Because she knows how much a life changes after cancer, and how much this type of support means for a child.

"Actually, I feel pretty blessed," she said, of her cancer survival.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com)