Laughs were had, heads were shaved and more than $15K was raised for one sheriff’s office detective

Cancer is no laughing matter, but there were many laughs to be had as local law enforcement gathered to shave each other’s heads.

Dozens of members of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and some other local first responders had their heads shaved at the Loft Salon in Bradenton to help raise money for Detective Nate Boggs and raise awareness as Boggs fights cancer.

Boggs, who is beginning his fourth and final round of chemotherapy after having a tumor discovered on his spine earlier this year, took a moment to thank everyone who came and supported him on Saturday.

“This is almost hard and almost embarrassing for me, as just one of the guys, it’s hard to just take a handout and be happy for it,” Boggs said. “You have no idea what this means to me ... and what it means to my family.”

Not all agencies are like the sheriff’s office, Boggs told the large crowd gathered in the salon’s parking lot, many wearing their custom T-shirts with the thin blue American flag and the words, “In this family, no one walks alone.”

“I know a lot of folks here started at Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and have never worked somewhere else. I worked somewhere else and I can tell you, it’s not like this at every department across the nation,” Boggs went on to say. “This is special, the sheriff and the colonel is here, and the outpouring of support from the community, everybody that’s here.”

Support like what he had received was seen on every street car, he added.

“So from the bottom of my heart, and the bottom of my family’s heart, thank you to each and every one of you guys. I love you guys,” Boggs finished by saying.

With that, the first “shavees” took their seats, and the good times rolled.

Inside the salon, 50 percent of the proceeds from any other services that were booked for Saturday also went to the Boggs family. Little Ceasar’s Pizza also came out to the event, selling pizza slices to help raise money for Boggs.

It was the second fundraiser members of the department held for Boggs. A BBQ lunch held Friday at the sheriff’s office headquarters with food provided by Mission BBQ raised $5,000.

“We’re going to take care of our own,” Sheriff Rick Wells said. “We don’t want him to worry about anything financial. We just want him to worry about getting better.”

When the trimmers started buzzing Saturday afternoon, about $15,000 had already been raised for the Boggs family.

The most anticipated haircut of the afternoon was Capt. Patrick Cassella, who commands over the Criminal Investigative Divison at the sheriff’s office, which includes the Crimes Against Persons Unit that Boggs is a part of. Cassella, who arrived a little late, was greeted with plenty of friendly banter.

“I’m just nervous,” Cassella said as those gathered laughed.

But Wells said he wasn’t nervous saying, “I’ve been training for this.”

Cassella had initially told other members of the sheriff’s office that he would agree to shave his head if they managed to raise $1,000. An hour later, members of the sheriff’s office had raised the required funds.

But Maverick Johnson from 92.1 CTQ, who acted as an MC on Saturday afternoon, who sealed the good deed by announcing it on air when he had Boggs on his show earlier in the week.

Mid haircut, Boggs took over the clippers with encouragement from the crowd.

“You can get mad at me, but you can’t get mad at Nate,” Wells told him laughing to which Boggs added, “I have cancer, don’t yell at me.”

When it was Lt. Mark Morie’s turn in the chair, holding the clippers was deputy Lisa Gritzinger, earning the privilege of shaving his head after having raised the most money out of anyone in her squad.

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Laughs were had, heads were shaved and more than $15K was raised for one sheriff’s office detective."