43
A Campbell man brings a facial hair club to the Valley
POLAND
Anthony Fontes says growing a beard isn’t easy — it takes an amount of dedication to let it grow out.
Fontes, 38, chose to grow facial hair six years ago, but said it wasn’t until two years back he took up the hobby of bearding.
Fontes is a part-time photographer who lives in Poland with his wife and 8-year-old son. He said the “art of bearding” is about changing perceptions on facial hair by styling it in a unique way for fun or competition. He said it’s more of a challenge than simply growing facial hair, adding that it takes “patience, determination and lots of hair products” to style it in a way that’s unique.
“I stumbled across the National Beard and Moustache Championships in Las Vegas two years ago, and it was spectacular,” Fontes said.
Fontes described the competition as a cross between a masquerade ball and a dog show.
“You don’t just show up to these things with a beard,” he said. “I mean you certainly can, but there’s an amount of pageantry to the contests.”
Fontes said hundreds of people attended the National Beard and Moustache Championships in 2012. He said he managed to rank in the competition, and he said he has been traveling the U.S. since then for other competitions.
Fontes isn’t alone in “bearding” in the Mahoning Valley. He started a group called the Rust Belt Whisker Society about one year ago for other men interested in competing and discussing facial-hair trends. He said the group has a Facebook page where he will post meeting spots to talk about facial hair once a month.
Don Harshbarger of Youngstown joined the club this past year after seeing the group on Facebook.
“I had a beard, so I decided to try out one of the meetings,” Harshbarger said. “We do a little of everything in our get-togethers: talk about competitions, talk about how to host these competitions and socializing about beards.”
Harshbarger said he has become one of the five regulars who pops into the group meetings the past few months.
The past year, the Rust Belt Whisker Society hosted two facial hair competitions in Youngstown, Fontes said. He said all money raised at both events went to small nonprofits in the area.
Scott Sykora of Chardon said he competed in the Rust Belt Whisker Society’s first competition in May at Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts. He said he liked that the event was “laid back” and went toward a nonprofit.
“It was a lot of fun since it was in the afternoon and I could bring my son while also competing,” Sykora said.
Fontes said he wants to plan at least two more facial-hair competitions next year. He said he hopes to see more people get involved in “bearding” in the Mahoning Valley.
“There’s a brotherhood to these clubs and competitions,” Fontes said. “We do compete, but there’s very little bickering in it. The bottom line is to have fun.”