Beards of all types — long and short, bushy and thin, fake and real — were a cause for celebration Saturday evening at Hopkinsville Brewing Co.
Fifteen contestants entered the second annual Beards at the Brewery competition, which took place in the former body shop garage adjacent to the brewery on Fifth Street.
“It was the first time people got to use the new space, and the plan is to close it back up until we unveil it when the renovations are complete,” brewery co-owner Kate Russell told Hoptown Chronicle.
Russell and co-owner Joey Medeiros purchased the garage earlier this year. It will provide more space for brewing and events.
In the beard competition, there were four categories — partial, full styled, artificial and full natural.
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The best of show award went to Bryan Wycoff.
In the categories, the winners were: Partial, Brandon Puckett, first, and Diante Holloway, second; Full Styled, David Diaz, first, and Matt Bryant, second; Artificial, Lydia Bravard, first, and Hayden Hayes, second; and Full Natural, Stan Kuble, first, and Mark Campbell, second.
Brooke Jung, executive director of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, was master of ceremonies for the beard contest.
Judges were Medeiros, and Riki Pryor, who is a part-time employee of the brewery, and John Miller-Reynolds, co-owner of The Miller’s Son men’s store downtown.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
