By SAM FRIEDMAN

Mirror Writer

Mike Trussell is Kodiak’s beard and moustache champion, securing the title over 20 other Kodiakans at the First Annual Beard and Moustache Competition at Tony’s Bar Saturday night.

Trussell won a trip to Anchorage to compete for the state champion beard. Next Saturday he will appear in the Mr. Fur Face competition at the Miners and Trappers Ball — part of the Fur Rondy festivities.

Judi Kidder helped organize the event through Kodiak’s Lions Club chapter.

“It was a fun night,” she said. “We all want to do it again next year.”

Although the event was about good fun and raising money for charity — $690 for Threshold Services Inc. — Kidder said she organized the event to give Kodiak a good shot at the state title.

Contestants were judged in the same categories as the state competition under criteria including color, uniformity, length, overall health and character.

All that glistens is not a real beard. Kadie Walsh beat a man and another woman in the pyrite division — a category for artificial beards — with some blond costume hair she bought in California.

The handle bar moustache she made out of it is not too many shades off from her natural hair color. She first wore it at a moustache-themed birthday party and received a flurry of compliments.

“That night people kept telling me how good I looked in a moustache — that I should join a competition,” she said.

She plans to return next year, despite the physical discomfort associated with wearing a fake moustache.

“It’s definitely a labor of love,” she said. “The hair is definitely going up your nose and it’s hot. It’s an endurance thing.”

Next year, Walsh would like see some bearded Kodiakans who were notably absent on Saturday night, including Willy Fulton, Val Flinders, and a man with a beard in dreads who is often seen on the waterfront.

Jay Barrett, who sported muttonchops along with a Jock of the Rock T-shirt and pirate hat received an honorary mention. He would have won if there had been a costume category, Kidder said.

Kidder was introduced to the world of competitive facial hair last year when she judged Mr. Fur Face Competition.

Her work led to a judgeship at the World Beard and Moustache Championships, a biannual traveling event that attracts the best and pays hefty prizes. While judging the event Kidder met World Beard and Moustache Champion David Traver.

This week Traver will pick Trussell up at the Anchorage airport and perhaps give him some last-minute beard tips.

In Kodiak, the next round of beard-related fun is the Lion Club’s ongoing shave for charity event. For the right price, the owners of even Kodiak’s best beards are willing to shave them off.

For more information about which faces are up for bidding contact Judi Kidder, 487-2421.

Mirror Writer Sam Friedman can be reached via e-mail at sfriedman@kodiakdailymirror.com.