My Movember Column

As I mentioned earlier this month, I'm growing a mustache for Movember. Yesterday, my column explaining why ran in our paper. You can read it here (or at the bottom of this post).

I'm in charge of planning the monthly health section. It's usually six pages with a few local stories and some wire. Since, I already had planned my column and a reporter's story about Movember, I thought I could probably find a couple other Movember-related things to do to fill out the front of the health section.

First, I thought it would be fun for those people who can't grow a mustache to have a mustache they could cut out and tape to their face (or just tape it to a pencil like I did).

Second, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the famous mustaches this world has seen. I wrote that tongue-in-cheek story, too, although I didn't put my name on it. I was hoping for a slightly different design, but overall, I won't complain because I think the section turned out pretty well.

Here's my column:

How my Mo could win you a prize

By Andy Steinke

When I pitched the idea of a story about Movember to reporter Jessica O’Brien, I thought for sure she could find at least one person in Michigan City who was growing a mustache this month specifically for men’s health awareness. Millions of people have participated in the past.

A few days of reporting left her empty-handed, so we turned to Plan B: asking the paper’s Facebook followers to contact her if they were participating in Movember.

There’s more than 3,800 of them, I thought, at least one of them will have heard of Movember and will want to be quoted in the paper.


Nothing.

I was genuinely shocked when none of our followers, or even friends of our followers, emailed her. So I turned to Plan C: suggesting sports reporter Aaron McKrell grow a Mo so Jessica would have someone local to interview.

Unethical, yes, but it looked better – much better, trust me – than Plan D: growing a mustache and writing a column about it.

I figured I was in trouble when Aaron said he enjoyed shaving. I knew he was lying – who enjoys shaving? really? – but I couldn’t stop him from shaving, at least not without breaking into his apartment.

After considering that idea for longer than I should have, I broke the news to my wife.

“Long story short,” I told her after explaining Jessica’s situation, “I have to grow a mustache.”

“WHAT?! Wait! No!” she screamed, calling me names and threatening to divorce me if I didn’t shave.

I weathered the storm and decided to take my chances. We’d been married six years, it had been a good run.

On Nov. 1, I shaved my face to prepare it for the next month of finger-pointing and snickering.

If my face had to be categorized, it would fall into the “follically blessed” group. However, the solo ’stache is far from my best look, so I left my Mo a friend, the soul patch.

We are a couple of weeks in, and I look just as ridiculous as I imagined I would.

What’s worse, my fundraising hasn’t been stellar. So here’s your chance to redeem yourselves, residents of Michigan City, and help me feel like less of a fool for planning a whole health section around Movember.

Go to my Mo Space – MoBro.co/andysteinke – and make a donation to help raise awareness for men’s health issues like prostate and testicular cancer. Or drop by our office at 121 W. Michigan Blvd., and leave a cash donation for me to send to the Movember Foundation.

If we make it to $1,000, I will randomly select one lucky donor – regardless of how much he or she donated – to receive the gift the Movember Foundation sends me for hitting the “Platinum Club.”

If you can’t afford a donation, at least visit my page to check out my Mo. It’s pretty terrible.

Andy Steinke is the local news editor at The News-Dispatch. If you know of a good marriage counselor, or a good barber, contact him at 219-874-7211, ext. 444 or asteinke@thenewsdispatch.com.