A guy dresses up like Elmer Fudd and walks into a bar. Two people in flannel walk in and sit next to him. A little later, more people in flannel sit down. This chain of events began what is now known as a day for The Flannelheads.
This is not the beginning of a joke.
Shawn Eaton found humor last year in the fact that he was surrounded by flannel-wearers, so he threw a party for what he calls “Flannelheads” at Game Time Sports Bar and Grill in Lebanon.
About 43 people showed up to the first Flannelhead party, and this year the crowd was almost twice as big, with people coming from as far away as Corvallis and Portland.
Eaton was able to get sponsors for this year’s event, which was held Dec. 10. He gave raffle tickets for prizes to every person wearing flannel, used the chance to do stand up comedy, and put a donation jar out for the ABC House.
“Shawn came up with this idea to wear flannel, and then it was a group of people that decided they wanted to give back goodness for children,” noted Laura Spurgeon, a flannel-wearer who was happy the group raised $300 for the ABC House.
To Eaton and his flannel-wearers, what started out as a joke turned into a “just for fun” day that lets people enjoy themselves as well as give back to the community.