Faces Pastor wears a kilt a day for worthy causes N


o one is confusing Pleasant City, Ohio, with Scotland or Ireland, which is why Michael L. Poole Jr. looks out of place every time he walks down the street in one of


his several colorful kilts. By now, though, locals must be getting used to Poole’s


classic Scottish-Irish garb, because instead of wearing them for rare special occasions he has one on every day. That’s because the pastor of the three-congregation


Pleasant City Lutheran Parish has vowed to wear a kilt every day for a year to raise awareness for male-related cancer and world hunger. Using Facebook as his soapbox, Poole founded “Kilted


50 for Charity,” which refers to the pastor wearing the kilts throughout his 50th birthday year. Everyone sponsoring Poole will be acknowl- edged on Facebook and given the chance to choose which of his kilts he will wear that day. There’s the all-green kilt, a white


one fashioned from an old karate uniform and a blue law enforce- ment tartan, to name a few from his collection. Wearing kilts goes back sev-


eral years for Poole, who discov- ered the tradition after learning about his Irish heritage. In his 30s he picked up playing the bagpipes, and for concerts he wore a kilt. “This is my third call, and I’ve


worn kilts at all three,” Poole said. “Right now I’m in the heart of Appa- lachia, so I get looks when I’m wear- ing one. But I told the congregations I


It’s a kilt a day for charity and Michael L. Poole Jr., shown with his wife Tracy Pryor and children Rain Siobhan Pryor-Poole and Sean Michael Poole.


For more information about “Kilted 50 for Charity,” visit www.facebook.com/kilted50forcharity. 100 + birthdays


105: Millicent Johnston, First United, Dallas. 104: Hilma Bennett, Salem, Rockford, Ill. 102: Toini Koski, Bethlehem, DeKalb, Ill. 101: Edna Pribbenow, Redeemer, Rio, Wis.


100: Lillian Hayward, Nativity, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Hazel Jacobson, Redeemer, Rio, Wis.; Mary Robinson,


Messiah, Salisbury, N.C.; Helen Utke, Zion, Oriska, N.D.


Send stories Share your stories of ELCA Lutherans and your 100+ members in “Faces.” Send to lutheran@thelutheran.org or “Faces,” The Lutheran, 8765 W. Hig gins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.


February 2014 43


serve what I was doing and they embraced it.” Another supporter is his wife, Tracy Pryor, who was


shocked at first by his decision. “It’s for a good reason, and it’s a perfect time for our family because our one child is too young to care and the other is too old to be bothered by it,” she said. Poole’s choices for charities come from previous mission


service. He co-founded Potlucks to End World Hunger, which encourages congregations to increase awareness of issues related to hunger through hosting a potluck. The organization works in concert with ELCA World Hunger (www.elca.org/ hunger). Poole got involved in raising cancer awareness at a previous


call. He started organizing a dinner with a speaker about cancer and a male fashion show with—not surprisingly—kilts. The idea to turn daily kilt wearing into a


fundraiser came from seeing someone else on Facebook who wore kilts for his 50th year. Poole took it and added the charity aspect. “You know if I wore a T-shirt that


says, ‘Ask me how to end hunger’ or ‘Ask me about Jesus,’ you’re going to walk by me,” Poole said. “But when you wear a kilt that says nothing on it, everyone comes up to you and asks why you’re wearing one. I carry my infor-


mation sheet with me so I can tell them what I’m doing.” Poole will end his daily kilt wearing in November, but Pryor is thinking about sponsoring her


husband one day and requiring him to wear pants—for a change of pace. 


Author bio: Favre is a contributing editor of The Lutheran.


By Jeff Favre


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52