The Citizen, 2017-01-05, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017. PAGE 19.
Entertainment & Leisure
East Wawanosh beard -growing comp. kicks off
The start of something great
East Wawanosh Township, now a ward in North Huron, has a fine history of beard -growing
competitions. One such competition was the cornerstone of the township's 100th anniversary
celebration 50 years ago, the 125th anniversary and now for this year's 150th anniversary
celebration. North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent is seldom seen without a beard but New Year's
Eve in Belgrave was one of those times, as he shaved his face, with the help of his wife Joan,
to start the competition off right. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The East Wawanosh 150th
celebration, like the municipality's
100th and 125th celebrations before
it, will feature a beard -growing
competition that kicked off on Dec.
31 with committee member and
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent
shaving down to his facial follicles.
The contest requires registrants to
shave their beards this month and
apply. It features several different
classes under which contestants may
be able to win.
"When people apply, they don't
have to apply under a certain class,"
Vincent explained in an interview
with The Citizen. "The judges will
decide who goes where."
The classes are the longest full
beard, best trimmed beard, best
goatee, best ornate mustache,
scruffiest beard and most naturally
colourful beard.
The competition runs until June
30, when the beards will be judged
as part of the kick-off event for the
150th celebration.
Vincent explained the idea for the
competition came from Bill Taylor,
an East Wawanosh resident, who
Letter to the Editor
McQuail wants vote reform
THE EDITOR,
And the NEW we need in 2017 is
a new proportional electoral system
to replace our OLD first -past -the -
post, winner -take -all system. If our
electoral systems were a bank
machine, we would have replaced it
years ago.
Imagine if you had a bank
machine that refused to give over
half the customers access to their
money and instead transferred their
deposits to the bank manager. How
many studies would it take to change
the machine?
Our first -past -the -post electoral
system results in over half the
ballots cast in each election earning
no representation. Worse yet — it
regularly results in parties which got
a minority of the votes (often less
than 40 per cent of the votes) getting
a majority of the seats in Parliament
and effectively 100 per cent control
of the legislative agenda for Canada.
This is the minority that ends up
managing the "bank" for the
majority of Canadians who did not
vote for them. They control the Bank
of Canada and they decide how our
tax dollars will be spent.
The recent Parliamentary
Committee on Electoral Reform is
the 14th time a study or citizen's
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assembly has come in with the
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proportional representation. In the
2015 federal election, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, promised to
bring in a new electoral system to
"Make Every Vote Count." But
Continued on page 20
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was part of the competitions at the
125th and 100th anniversaries and
said he wanted to be a part of it.
Since he doesn't want a head start,
Vincent said entrants can enter with
a close trim throughout the rest of
the month, as long as they apply by
Jan. 31. He also said concessions
can be made for people who don't
want to shave off their mustache but
will grow a beard for the
competition.
"They won't be able to win for
their mustaches, but there are some
people out there who are attached to
them," he said.
The rules are that the facial hair
being judged must be trimmed close
before the end of the month and
entrants need to pay the $10 fee.
Competitors do not need to be
residents of East Wawanosh.
Each member of the competition
will receive a 2017 Beard Growing
Contest Award including a
nameplate and be eligible for one of
the first ($50) or second ($25) place
anniversary vouchers in the six
categories. The vouchers can be
spent on memorabilia including
apparel or souvenirs or be used to
pay for participation in the
anniversary events.
New Year's Eve marked the fifth
time in 30 years Vincent has shaven
off his facial hair, the last time being
approximately five years ago as part
of the Cops for Cancer fundraiser,
and his wife Joan, also part of the
150th committee, said she'll be glad
when his beard comes back.
"When we first started dating he
would grow it in the winter and then
shave it off in the spring," she said.
"I didn't like that transition, so he
started keeping it."
Vincent said he made sure that,
during one of the earlier events that
required him to shave, he had his
daughter Margaret at the event,
saying there are stories about
people's children not recognizing
them without the beard.
For Vincent, the beard is a time-
saver as, with the commitments he
has had as a politician, he would
often need to shave twice a day
instead of just washing the beard
along with his hair. It was also an
identifying factor for Vincent as, in
his youth, he was known as the
brown -haired man with the red
beard.
To enter, or for more information,
contact Vincent at
vinbrofarms@rogers.com or call
519-357-2336.
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