BOWDOINHAM — The judges of the Best Beard Contest at the Bowdoinham Ice and Smelt Festival held Saturday reported that the contest drew 24 contestants, including a dog and a child. The winners are as follows:
- Full natural beard: Brian Hamner (honorable mentions to Brant Miller and Bob Kane)
- Verdi: Eli Berry
- Full beard freestyle: Fred Czerwinski
- Natural mustache: Richard T. Ellis
- Natural goatee: Howard Solomon
- Freestyle mustache: Jonathan Beede
- Freestyle sideburns: Nathaniel Blake
- Judges’ favorite (to be renamed Bowdoinham Spirit): Steve Ciembroniewicz
Members of the Maine Facial Hair Club took part. Club member Brian Hamner of Gardiner won the Full Natural Beard category, which drew the most competitors, and said it was his first beard contest. He grew his beard for seven months and said he thought the contest was pretty well done.
“I was very proud to be part of it,” Hamner said, adding that Bowdoinham “welcomed us with open arms.”
Hamner uses Garnier Fructis products on his beard to ensure that it smells nice.
The club’s next meeting is Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at The Wharf in Hallowell. Hamner said the members are trying to “raise awareness to make people realize us bearded fellows are not all bad people.” They are currently working to organize a 5K this summer to benefit the Patrick Dempsey cancer foundation, and hope to organize a run and walk for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
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