Stylists embrace ice bucket challenge

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

If you’ve been anywhere near social media in the last two weeks, inevitably, you have seen someone dumping a bucket of ice water on his or her head.

For hair stylists at Nelson’s Mane Concern in Burlington Tuesday evening, the challenge was taken to a whole new level.

With those stylists saying they wanted to help two women who used to work in the salon – women whose husbands were diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease – the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge happened in a big way.

Tina Czuta, Linda Weidner, Red Smetana, Linda Vos, Sue Nelson and Linda Reiherzer all got ice water dumped over their heads outside the salon at about 6 p.m. Tuesday night.

They then issued challenges to Hair Works (another salon), LDV, Home Helpers, the HR department at LDV and various individuals.

The ice-bucket challenge works like this: you accept a challenge to pour ice water over your head and donate $10 to the ALS Association, or you decline – and donate $100 instead.

The challenges have hit public figures from Burlington High School graduate and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to President Barack Obama to Ben Affleck.

And as the week has gone on, social media has become swamped with the videos.

“It’s for the awareness,” Smetana said. “People are so affected by the disease, not just the person with the disease, but the families.

“It’s a very slow, debilitating disease.”

Everyone involved with the challenge at Nelson’s Mane Concern planned to donate to the ALS Association, with Deb Heinzelman – one of the former employees – likely serving as a point person for the donations.

Heinzelman’s story about her husband, Ed, who died more than three years ago from the disease, has evolved into her own personal fundraiser – the Ice Cream Ride 4 ALS, which is also this weekend (see related story).

Add in four clients and friends that are affected by the disease, and the staff of the salon decided it was time to join in.

“It changes their whole, complete lifestyle,” said Weidner. One of the staff members at the salon had to leave her job to care for her husband, and the staff at the salon has seen the impact the disease has.

Tuesday, though, was about having a few laughs and rising to the challenge of an ice-cold bucket of water being poured over your head.

The six women withstood the cold, then issued their challenges via video.

Reiherzer said the anticipation was almost worse than the actual cold.

“The expectation of the first drop going on you?” She said. “That was the scariest part.”

Czuta then added, “And then it kept coming.”