Getting buzzed takes on new meaning today at Las Vegas pub

It’s not unusual for McMullan’s Irish Pub to be busy on a Saturday afternoon.

But today, the pub is trading frosty mugs overflowing with frothy Irish beer for buckets filled with flowing locks of hair.

The center of attention will be caring individuals taking clippers to their scalps for St. Baldrick’s Foundation for conquering childhood cancer.

“We are jam-packed, and the celebratory atmosphere is awesome,” said Lynn McMullan who, along with her husband, Brian, has played host to the head-shaving event for 10 years. “Everyone who shaves their head has been touched by cancer in some way or another. You can see it in their faces that they have raised money and have been working towards it for months, and they are giving something meaningful.”

The pub, located at 4650 W. Tropicana Avenue next to The Orleans, churns out shaved heads faster than a military academy. McMullan’s shaves seven heads at a time, rotating every 15 minutes, all day.

This year’s event, scheduled to start at 11 a.m., is expected to draw more than 400 “shavees.”

The event has grown in both heads shaved and money raised every year since its inception. Professional stylists volunteer to shave the heads.

Cancer touches the lives of many, but the disease struck the McMullan’s especially hard. Twenty years ago, Lynn and Brian lost their daughter Kyra to a brain tumor when the girl was 2 1/2 years old.

“This whole St. Baldrick’s thing is truly all because of her,” McMullan said. “We still may have ended up doing other positive things for the community, but without that story we would never be doing this.”

Brian shaves his head every year at the event, and Lynn also is a regular participant. This year, she won’t be taking part at McMullan’s because she already shaved her head on KSNV-TV's “Wake Up with the Wagners.”

“As we speak, I am very bald,” McMullan said, laughing. “I don’t mind it. It raises a lot of eyebrows, but when I shave my head, I don’t wear beanies or cover my head up. The compassion and the interest I get from strangers is astounding. People are really nice to me when I’m bald.”

The McMullans’ 18-year-old daughter, Branagh, has shaved her head multiple times, including on television with her mother.

“The first time was when she was 8 years old during our first year hosting the shaving event,” McMullan said. “She had beautiful long blonde hair, and she came to me and asked ‘If Kyra was here, would she do the same thing?’ And the answer was an obvious yes, so we did it.”

Roff, the McMullans’ 24-year-old son, won’t be able to make the event but has considered the possibility of shaving his head on Skype to join the festivities.

The McMullans' event is one of several across the globe. In 2015, more than 50,000 people shaved their heads at St. Baldrick’s events, raising nearly $37 million. More than 25,000 have already gone bald in 2016, for a total of $10 million in donations.

Since 2005, St. Baldrick’s has raised more than $178 million toward research for childhood cancers.

“We are the largest volunteer-powered organization dedicated to childhood cancer research,” said Cristine Lovato, media and public relations coordinator for St. Baldrick’s. “This is our signature event.”

One of McMullan’s regulars is Phil Ralston, president of American Nevada Company.

“I have a neighbor, and very good friend, named Windom Kimsey whose 10-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia,” Ralston said. “Having a friend who was affected like that really drew me in.”

Kimsey has been shaving his head for cancer research for 10 years, and Ralston is right behind him at nine.

“One of the facts that (St. Baldrick’s) promotes is children’s cancer is funded at a very low amount compared to adult cancer,” Ralston said. “Children’s cancer really needs to have the backing of the general population more so than it does now. These events aren’t run by paid employees, but by volunteers. St. Baldrick’s isn’t spending money on running the event, they are spending it on research.”

Ralston, Kimsey and others committed to the cause will gather at McMullan's through late into the night, possibly into the early morning hours Sunday.

“It’s going to be standing room only,” Ralston said. “It’s quite an atmosphere, and it’s doing something fun for something very serious.”