COBB COUNTY - Are moustaches back in style? Maybe not long-term, but they are for Movember.

East Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott and 16 others, many who are friends through their 2010 Leadership Cobb class, are among men worldwide who are growing their best Burt Reynolds moustaches this month and participating in Movember, a program that raises money and awareness of prostate and testicular cancers. Movember started in Australia where "mo" is slang for "moustache."

Since it began in 2003, Movember has raised $47 million worldwide, making it the world's largest charity event for men, according to its Web site, us.movember.com.

The rules of the game state that participants must start clean-shaven at the beginning of November and grow their moustaches through the end of the month. Mo Bros, as participants are called, sign up online, create their own "Mo Space" profiles and accept donations for the cause. All proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. (There's a place for Mo Sistas, too, though minus the moustache.)

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one in six men, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

The issue hits close to home for Ott, whose father died of prostate cancer in December.

"He had it 11 years before, and it was treated and it seemed like he was OK, but in July of 2008 they found out it had come back," Ott said. "The cancer had spread to his bones, so he had to have chemotherapy done this time. I can see where people have reservations about chemotherapy, because it's pretty devastating to your body. He fought it the best he could, but died on December 12."

Ott recalled that in May he was browsing through the Prostate Cancer Foundation's Web site, thinking of his father, when he saw an ad for Movember.

"I knew then that I wanted to do it, and later I talked with some people from Leadership Cobb about forming a group," Ott said.

Once "Movember" approached, two of Ott's fellow Delta Airlines pilots also joined the group, known as LC10. Ott acknowledged that many of their wives were not keen on the idea of their men sporting moustaches, but played along for the cause.

"I think some of the guys wanted to grow one anyway, so this was a good excuse," Ott said, with a laugh. "Some wives have even ended up liking them, like Woody (Thompson) and Rob (Hosack)'s. My wife is not one of them."

Ott said he will try to keep his moustache until Dec. 11, when he, his wife, Judy, and their two children travel to his mother's home in Maryland.

"It would mean a lot to her to see it," Ott said of his mother. "She knows I'm doing it, and she thinks it's fun and a nice tribute to my father. But as soon as Christmas with my family is over, I promise you, it will be shaved."

Dana Johnson, Cobb's planning division manager, is on Ott's Mo Bros team.

"I was trying to see if I could grow handlebars, but it's not working out so far. It's fun, but it itches!" he said, laughing as he rubbed his mid-term moustache.

Participants have to have a sense of humor, Ott said.

"We give each other a hard time, because a lot of us are sporting some really terrible moustaches. And they're all different. Like Bert Reeves, you can't even tell. But Jimmy Smith will have more moustache than any of us. You can't take yourself seriously doing this, for sure," he said.

Ott said his LC10 group has raised more than $3,100 so far, including some from his daughter, Katie, 12.

"One night, I was going to bed and saw a card put on my pillow. I opened it and my daughter, Katie, had written me a note, misspelled, that said, 'For daddy's mustace charity thing' and it had $10 inside. My wife didn't even know she had done it. We were so surprised," Ott said.

The pilot and commissioner said that he hopes the success his group has this month will create a platform to approach Delta executives about running a prostate cancer awareness campaign, similar to the breast cancer awareness campaign the company ran in October.

"Raising awareness does so much for research and just for stirring up conversation. Like the recent controversy about when mammograms should be performed to screen for breast cancer - so many people are weighing in because awareness of the cancer is so prevalent," Ott said.

He said he hopes his group's efforts will encourage men to be screened and have annual physicals.

"Men historically don't talk about health issues, and this encourages men to talk about it. I won't go into detail, but prostate screenings are not fun, to say the least. But they're a whole lot more comfortable than battling cancer," Ott said.