There were eight champions crowned at the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation Banquet and Events Centre on Sunday, and almost every one of them had the facial hair to prove it.
Judges selected the best beards and moustaches in Prince Albert on the final day of judging at the Prince Albert Winter Festival Beerd Derby.
Beerd Derby chair Doug Erickson said he was elated at the steady growth of the event.
Contestants also have to save beer receipts for purchases of Great Western. Erickson said the competition has been a great way to promote local businesses while also having fun.
“(It is) bigger and better,” Erickson said. “One of the things that the beard Beerd Derby strives to do is they encourage the Beerd Derby members to be, on an ongoing basis, supporting the businesses that sponsor (the derby), and we don’t just claim to do it. We actually gather receipts all year round so they’re gathering receipts anytime they spend money at one of the sponsoring businesses. We can actually go back to the sponsors and say, this is what we generated for you because of your sponsorship.
“It’s getting to be where it’s a real important thing for all these beard Derby members to understand that it’s what makes the world go round.”
The response from membership to this initiative has been great, according to Erickson.
“The number of receipts that are being turned in from the variety of sponsor businesses is phenomenal and it just shows us that that’s where they’re choosing to spend their money to say thank you for sponsoring this event,” he said.
Erickson said the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation is a “major, major, sponsor” of the Beerd Derby. They have an arrangement with Great Western Brewing, which in turn sponsors the Beerd Derby.
Erickson explained that they are taking a slow growth approach. He said that they bring in 10 to 15 people each year and try to educate them on the facets of the event.
“The spin off for us is that, there’s a lot of organizations and groups that are out there right now scrambling to get donations. It’s been a tough go and yet the Beerd Derby is in a position where we actually have corporations coming to us and saying ‘how do we get involved?’ Because they know that this is what we’re doing,” Erickson said.
Erickson said the Beerd Derby is about fellowship as well, and that has helped with growth too.
“It’s just a great camaraderie,” he said. “The response from the Beard Derby family’s been phenomenal, I mean, the amount of money that they’re spending in these sponsors stores is huge.”
Erickson said that the Beerd Derby tries to grow by approximately 10 to 15 new members each year.
“We’re at that pace. You lose the odd one through. They move or whatever, get transferred to another location. But yeah, we have somewhere between 15 and 20 new members a year and we’re not capped yet,” Erickson said.
“We are a few years away from being capped, but we wouldn’t want 200 people to all of a sudden show up. We don’t want to get to a point where we actually have to screen people,” he said.
The winners of this year’s events were Garth Oreel in Amateur Mustache, Ryan Dewhurst in Amateur Miscellaneous, Jamison Quinton in Amateur Full Bush, Josh Elliot in Professional Mustache, Reilly Barton in Professional Miscellaneous, Rick Jenkins was a repeat winner in Professional Bush, Nathaniel Wagner in PPE and Robin Gyoerick in the Ladies category.
The PPE category was for people who could not grow facial hair due to their job and was done by a draw. The Ladies’ category was also done by a draw.
Judging was done by co-chair Ian Litzenberger, Great Western representative Tyler Redl and Danielle Collins from the Hair Nook. Longtime and current competitor Kent Tomlinson acted as rules official. This year he was joined by longtime and current contestant Wayne Kirk as a second consulting judge.
“Wayne Kirk was a judge this year, basically as a consultant just because Kent didn’t want to be the only consultant from the old days,” Erickson said.
Tomlinson, Kirk and Rick Jenkins have been part of the Beerd Derby since the 1960s and were the ones who attempted to keep it going initially.
Kirk has also won every category more than once except the Hairiest Legs category.
“Wayne is one of the guys that he has won every single category and he is a ‘by the book’ rule guy, So this year was judged by the book,” Erickson said.
“We are going to put a little more emphasis on the different categories and do a little more with the fuzz checks … and those three guys will be the guys that will say, this is what you need to do if you want to win this,”
The Beerd Derby was initially a signature part of the Winter Festival in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it was sponsored by the former Molson Brewery in Prince Albert.
At its lowest point, Erickson estimates maybe six or seven people participated in the Beerd Derby. To revive the event, Erickson negotiated with Great Western Brewery in Saskatoon to bring life back to the Derby.
This year there were an estimated 130 members.
“It’s great,” Erickson said.
Organizers also plan to stay connected with competitors, Erickson said it helped generate enthusiasm for the competition, and that bodes well for the future.
During the peak years, when the Derby was hosted by Molson, there could be up to 300 entries. They have also expanded by adding the Ladies Hairiest Legs competition and the PPE. PPE and the Ladies helped to grow the event.
Erickson said that gives them two for the price of one which boosts participation.
Major sponsors for the event included the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation, Lake Country Co-op, Phantom Light Distillery, Great Western Brewery, Original Joe’s, Boston Pizza, PA Wand Wash Car Wash and North Star Screen Printing and Trophies, among others.
Each winner received an embroidered bag from North Star.
Litzenberger, who manages the Lake County Co-op Liquor Stores in Prince Albert will be staying on as co-chair of the Beerd Derby.
Anyone with questions about the Beerd Derby can reach out to the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation by calling 764-8970, or by email at pa.wildlifefed@gmail.com.
