LONDONDERRY — A regular guy like Chris Mahoney had to admit he'd never cut his teenage daughter's hair before.

But yesterday, inside the Londonderry High School gym, he held the scissors steady in one hand as he waited for the signal to cut 8 inches off his daughter's long, golden brown locks.

Mahoney's daughter Kristie, 17, a high-school junior, joined about 140 others — students, former students, teachers and family members — in donating their hair for wigs for cancer patients.

Many had personal reasons for giving, like Kristie and her father. Her dad's friend at work lost a daughter to cancer. The girl was Kristie's age, so Kristie asked her dad to come and be part of the pep rally.

Clance Melanson, 15, a sophomore, said her mother recovered from cancer.

"She's all right now," Clance said. "I wanted to do something for her."

This is the third year the school has participated in the hair cutting, sponsored by the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, according to Art Psaledas, assistant principal. The event was combined with the high school's winter sports pep rally and featured plenty of cheering and clapping.

"She's excited," Mahoney said, laughing when asked how Kristie expected the hairdo to look when he finished.

Many had fathers, mothers, sisters or friends cut their hair, but the school brought in a team of volunteer hairdressers on standby to repair disasters.

The hair donors wore their hair in ponytails tied with elastic bands, according to Kayla West, 15, a sophomore. Kayla knew how to work the scissors and signed up to cut a friend's hair.

Alie Nutt, 17, a junior, was less confident about her hair-cutting skills.

"I'm going to hope it comes out straight," she said.

On the count of three, while some of the girls gripped each others' hands and screamed, 140 cut off their ponytails.

Minutes later, laughing, they ran their hands through their cropped hair.

"It's very light," senior Katie Brissenden, 17, said. "And I love it."

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