Talking Beards

What a fun day meandering among some interesting characters and bearded folk!  I meet some of the most interesting people at these types of events, I guess that is why I try to go to as many as I can and meet the people!

The Whiskerina Council was just announced so I reached out to Director Jodi Mitnick to get the scoop. We were also joined by Event Liaison Amy Roberts and discussed what the newly formed Council hopes to achieve, the other appointed members, and other silly things. We bounced around in this fun conversation and covered many topics from what a Whiskerina is, where the name came from, charity work, and friendship and commodore in the bearding community. For many years the girlfriends, wives, sister, and friends have wanted to be involved in their local beard clubs, The Whiskerina Council is there to help those females who want to participate. The Council are here to give help and advice to those who wish to compete creatively and competitively, and give guidance to those that seek to be more involved. This was a delight to sit down with these 2 lovely ladies and talk about something we all love so much and ketchup as friends. There was a lot of fun and laughs had and I appreciate what these two women are trying to do for the bearding community, and the women who are interesting in being part. Please feel free to check out the blog post that goes with this episode by clicking WHISKERINA. Thank you for listening and please tell a friend, SUBSCRIBE HERE

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As I was preparing this blog post about my talk with the girls I thought I would look on-line and see what information I could find on the history of The Whiskerinas. I came across a great little article written by Nate "Chops" Johnson about The Whiskerinas and where it began and some of the lovely ladies that helped propel the movement to where it is now. I highly recommend you check this article in SHEA MAGAZINE out by clicking BELOW. I also highly suggest you read some of his other great articles which are also found here.

click below for the full article by Nate:

LOVELY LADIES OF BEARDING: THE WHISKERINAS — SHEA MAGAZINE

Over the years I have attended many events and taken a few pictures. I have always been fascinated by the Whiskerina categories at the competitions and have payed special attention to those that participate in the creative categories. Here is a gallery of photos I have taken over the years of various Whiskerina that I hope you enjoy. All of these women have put a lot of thought and creativity into their projects. I think it is more difficult to be in a Whiskerina category sometimes than it is to be in a regular category for the men!!! It may take years for us men to grow amazing beards but it takes a lifetime of support from our women to achieve our dreams. Love the women that support the bearding community because without them-we are just guys with hair on our face! EMBRACE THE BEARD!!!!

THE WHISKERINAS 2017 WORLD BEARD AND MOUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 World Beard and Moustache Championships-EVENT PAGE THE DRUNKEN BEARDSMEN PODCAST UNIVERSAL BEARD List of Beard Clubs that include Women as full members Below is a list of clubs that include Women as full members. Sadly some clubs do not include women as full members (meaning they are not allowed to vote on club business). Please find a club in your area & get involved! To add your club to this list please message us & let us know where you are located. ARIZONA https://www.facebook.com/phoenixfacialhairsociety/ https://m.facebook.com/CanyonStateBC/ ARKANSAS https://www.facebook.com/nwasobomg/ CALIFORNIA https://www.facebook.com/groups/LABeards/ Mbscsac.com https://www.facebook.com/modestobea... https://www.facebook.com/groups/fre... COLORADO http://boulderfacialhairclub.com https://www.facebook.com/RMBMC CONNECTICUT https://www.facebook.com/GreaterHar... Www.Facebook.com/connecticutfacialhairalliance DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA https://www.facebook.com/DistrictBe... FLORIDA https://m.facebook.com/orlandofacialhairclub/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bea... https://m.facebook.com/thetrueJOB/ GEORGIA https://m.facebook.com/atlantafacialhairsociety/ https://www.facebook.com/SavannahBeardsmen/ ILLINOIS https://www.facebook.com/SIBME/ KENTUCKY https://m.facebook.com/hillbillybeardsmenmountsterling/ https://www.facebook.com/KyBeardettes/ https://www.facebook.com/BEARDEDMON... https://www.facebook.com/derbycityw... https://www.facebook.com/groups/261... MARYLAND https://www.facebook.com/SOMDBeardSyndicate/ MASSACHUSETTS https://www.facebook.com/pg/SouthCo... https://m.facebook.com/Cape-Cod-Isl... https://www.facebook.com/BostonBear... https://www.facebook.com/wmasswhisk... MICHIGAN https://www.facebook.com/MCFacialHairClub https://www.facebook.com/OrderOfWhi... https://www.facebook.com/groups/653... MINNESOTA http://www.thembmc.com MISSOURI https://www.facebook.com/St-Louis-B... https://m.facebook.com/RiverCityBeardsmen/ https://www.facebook.com/queencityb... https://www.facebook.com/BAMofSTL/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/kcb... NEBRASKA https://www.facebook.com/groups/Oma... NEW JERSEY www.facebook.com/acbeardstache https://www.facebook.com/GardenStat... https://www.facebook.com/GSwhiskeri... NEW YORK https://www.facebook.com/groups/264941233545191 https://www.facebook.com/Boomtownbf... NORTH CAROLINA https://m.facebook.com/OakCityBMA/ https://www.facebook.com/BMCofNC.gso/ OHIO https://www.facebook.com/BeardsOfTheOldNorthwest/ https://www.facebook.com/BeardBarons/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/RustBeltWhiskerSociety/ https://m.facebook.com/mercercounty... https://www.facebook.com/groups/156... OKLAHOMA https://www.facebook.com/groups/959... OREGON https://www.facebook.com/portlandbeardsmen/ PENNSYLVANIA https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityBeards/ https://www.facebook.com/YorkBMC/ https://www.facebook.com/philadelph... SOUTH CAROLINA https://www.facebook.com/SCBeardClub/ https://www.facebook.com/Midlands-Whisker-Society.../ TENNESSEE http://mpsnashville.com Facebook.com/marblecitywhiskersociety TEXAS https://www.facebook.com/austinfacialhairclub/ https://m.facebook.com/alamobeard.club.1/ https://m.facebook.com/254whiskermen/ https://www.facebook.com/pg/cchairy... https://www.facebook.com/TxBeardAll... UTAH https://m.facebook.com/SaltySaints/ VIRGINIA https://www.facebook.com/RVABeardLeague/ https://m.facebook.com/HRBeardStacheSociety/ https://m.facebook.com/novafacialhairclub/ https://www.facebook.com/Roanokebeards/ https://www.facebook.com/FXBCVA/ WASHINGTON https://spokanebeardmustache.org/ WISCONSIN https://www.facebook.com/MBWULocal608/ CANADA https://m.facebook.com/TorontoFacialHairClub/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/785... https://m.facebook.com/Northern-Ont... https://www.facebook.com/groups/man... https://www.facebook.com/VancouverF... https://www.facebook.com/groups/785... https://www.facebook.com/groups/NLB... 0 LIKES

The Whiskerina Council was just announced so I reached out to Director Jodi Mitnick to get the scoop.  We were also joined by Event Liaison Amy Roberts and discussed what the newly formed Council hopes to achieve, the other appointed members, and other silly things.

I have been having a real tough go at it lately. To be honest, I am frustrated with life and have been having second thoughts about continuing on with the podcast. I enjoy making the podcast for everyone to listen to but sometimes I wonder what cost it has to my personal life. It is my only outlet, my only creative endeavor that I have in my life. Being a father and husband take a lot of time up these days, much more than I anticipated. At times I feel lost in life trying to juggle all the different things going on from family to work…-to podcast. I struggle every day to get ahead in everything.

I started off this year with tons of plans, optimism was flowing through my veins. Today I want shave and say fuck it and just remove myself from the bearding world. I am beyond frustrated with life right now and have lost focus. I was reminded why I do a podcast kinda out of the blue and when I needed it the most. I was messaged by a listener of the show this past weekend when I was probably at my lowest. It was great to hear from him and to hear his words of encouragement to me. We hadn't communicated in almost a year so it was good to know he was still around and listening and supported the show. I remembered how Brandon was the first person to ever message me and tell me how much he enjoyed the show. At the start I was very nervous about if people would enjoy my content. It gave me real anxiety wondering if what I was doing was really worth it and if people wanted more. I put such amazing amounts of stress on myself trying to make sure I was doing something important and worthwhile.

It was a synchronistic moment to have Brandon reach out to me at that moment. It was as if he knew I needed to be reminded that what I provided was something that he needed in his life as well. We needed each other in a way. I felt invigorated and ready to tackle the world, just as I felt when I first started this adventure over a year ago. The more I thought about how important the moment Brandon reached out to me I thought about how this person who I didn't know anything about completely changed my mood, my outlook, my drive. I realized that without the people who listen to me babble every couple of weeks about beards and dumb stuff, I wouldn't have this outlet for my voice. I wouldn't have a place to dick around and goof off with my friends and share lame stories and fun adventures. I didn't think these things were important to people, I guess I was really wrong.

I wanted to interview Brandon for this weeks podcast. I thought it was really important to learn who he was and to share it with all of you. This was the first of what will hopefully be many episodes where I talk with fans of The Beardcaster podcast. You are all important to me and to this show. You all have something amazing to share and are all great people and I would like to share that! I hope you enjoy this episode with Brandon King. I know that he is someone you have never heard of but please check this out-he is important to me. It was a really fun time getting to know someone and becoming friends, all because of our beards!!! He is an outstanding family man who has some great insight into beard oils and beard care. I actually learned some new things from him! Please check out this fun episode and tell your friends about the podcast-you may be the next guest on my fan appreation episode! Any questions, comments, or whatever email me at [email protected]. Thanks!!!

p.s.-I know I am not the greatest writer, or speaker, but bear with my ramblings. I sometimes just get off on writing tangents and don't get a chance to really go back and review what I wrote! Thanks for understanding!

BRANDON KING BEARD BRAND BEARD GAINS BEDLAM BEARD ROUGHNECK BEARD CO. COWBOY COMB PORTLAND BEARD CO. BRUTAL BEARD HONEST ABE BEARD OIL PUG LIST BRAND SMOKY MOUTAIN BEARDS BOOTLEGGER BRAND WAFFEN DER WHISKERR OIL LEGACY BEARD CO. DOLLAR BEARD CLUB RIDES WAX GROOMED GORILLA MONSTER BEARD CARE TEXAS BEARD CO. MAHONEYS BEARD BREW MAD VIKING BEARDILIZER THE DRUNKEN BEARDSMAN MUSIC BY

I have been having a real tough go at it lately.  To be honest, I am frustrated with life and have been having second thoughts about continuing on with the podcast.  I enjoy making the podcast for everyone to listen to but sometimes I wonder what cost it has to my personal life.  It is my only outlet, my only creative endeavor that I have in my life.

Episode 26-ATTITUDE and living life...

Over the past few weeks I have been noticing something a bit more around me, attitude. Attitude seems to be a major influence in life and can effect our moods, and our way of life. Attitude also influences others and tends to pull those that are like-minded in their direction, a "magnetic" kind of attraction. Sometimes a toxic attitude can pull you down a dark road, one of negativity and pain. The one end of the spectrum you may find those that emit a great deal of positive attitude. These people are a special breed, ones who absorb life and live it to its fullest. I recently had an experience that opened my eyes to the true influence of "attitude" on ones life.

Today, as I write this, my grandmother of 101 just passed away. It has been a difficult week for my family as we have been dealing with the possible moving on of the mother of our family. The threat of death brings out an urgency of life; to experience more of it and to take in as much as you can as fast as possible. I wanted to try and enjoy the time I may have left to enjoy this kind, loving, and energetic woman. What I learned the most from her in her past week of life was about her attitude. Her attitude was always so invigorating, very positive, and made her shine above the rest. It gave her a reason to get up everyday, the willingness to absorb as much around her as possible. This is what truly made her the amazing woman that she was. No matter what, she always had a smile on her face and seemed to be enjoying life. It irradiated from her like sunshine and everyone around her wanted to feel her warmth and be close by. She was one of a kind and she was my grandmother.

There has been a major influx of attitude all around me lately from all types of places. This episode touches on many different aspects of attitude that I have been currently experiencing. I would like to thank Charles Abadam for the wonderful gift that he sent me. The bearding world has also shown me the power of positive attitude and the kindness of great people. I was joined this episode by Bald Faced Josh and The Child and we talked about many types of attitude and how we experience it. We had some good laughs under the circumstances but I think it was very healing for us talking about our losses and the situations that surrounded them. Please sit back and enjoy this lengthy episode, it is really a treat to be able to discuss my grandmother in this episode. I hope everyone can take away some good insight into the power of a good attitude and apply it to their own life!

CHARLES ABADAM MUSIC BY: BEN LEVIN CHRIS SYKORA

Over the past few weeks I have been noticing something a bit more around me, attitude.  Attitude seems to be a major influence in life and can effect our moods, and our way of life.  Attitude also influences others and tends to pull those that are like-minded in their direction, a "magnetic" kind of attraction.  Sometimes a toxic attitude can pull you down a dark road, one of negativity and pain. The one end of the spectrum you may find those that emit a great deal of positive attitude.

2016 went out with a BANG!!! What a great first year for the podcast and all the great new people I have met because of it! With the few weeks I have taken off from producing episodes I had some time to reflect upon the year I had and try and find new ways to make better shows for the listeners. I hope 2017 finds many new beards and mustaches enjoying all these new episodes that I am excited to get out to the hairy faced people!!!

I recently got together with some members of my beard club, Beards of The Old Northwest, and talked about some things we are were looking at for the year 2017. I was joined by newly mustached Jessie Chapple, freestyle wizard Eric Zatchock, and new mustache to the scene Jason Yarina. We discussed our styles and talked about their records for competing last year. Jessie told us about his switch from a full beard to just a styled mustache and the pains that he has had with dealing with it. Eric briefly talked about the Beards Behind Bars competition that we have planned this summer and also about his favorite boobs in movies. Jason shared how he became involved in the competition scene and how great he did his first year competing with his excellent handlebar mustache. There was much excitement and anticipation for this upcoming year in competitive bearding! I did fail on one thing this episode-I forgot to take a picture of the four of us for the episode art. Worst of all, I never got a shot of Jessie and myself together. Since Jason hasn't done an episode I chose this time to use the picture I took of him, myself, and Rocky. Rocky only appears yelling in the background on this episode! Look for him on future episodes!

While I was talking to the boys we were briefly joined by Doug White, president of the BOTONW Rock Creek Chapter. He wanted to share with everyone about an event they were hosting on January 28th to help raise awareness of the Beatitude House of Ashtabula County and raise some funds and collect some much needed items on the list below. The event will be at the Jefferson Lanes Bowling Alley in Jefferson Ohio and more info about the event can be found HERE. We hope you can make it out that night but if not please check into the Beatitude House website for more information on their organization and possibly help out in some way!

WWW.BEATITUDEHOUSE.COM Jesse A. Chapple

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BEARDS BEHINDS BARS -JULY 1ST OHIO STATE REFORMATORY CANADIAN REDNECK BEARD NUCKFEST II THE SECOND ANNUAL ONTARIO BEARD AND MUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 WORLD BEARD AND MOUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS BEARDS FOR BEASTS HELLO BULLY MID-ATLANTIC BEARD & 'STACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS VI BOTONW ROCK CREEK CHAPTER BEATITUDE HOUSE BEARDS, BOWLING, AND BEATITUDE HOUSE

2016 went out with a BANG!!!  What a great first year for the podcast and all the great new people I have met because of it!  With the few weeks I have taken off from producing episodes I had some time to reflect upon the year I had and try and find new ways to make better shows for the listeners.

2016 is rolling to an end. What a year it has been for the podcast and my involvement within the bearding community. When I first got involved in the bearding community about 5 years ago, I didn't realize how involved communities and charities everyone participates in. As I wrap up the first year of The Beardcaster podcast I will end on a few events that I have attended over the past few weeks prior to the holidays. Over the past few years, Beards of The Old Northwest, Steel City Beards and Mustache Club, The Rust Belt Whisker Society, have gotten together to help Marines with the Toys for Tots program in Northeast Ohio. Over the past few years we have collected an AMAZING amount of new and unwrapped toys for the children of the greater Youngstown area.

This year, at the last second I decided to have my own local toy drive and see what extra toys I could collect from my community that I could add to the annual toy drive. I posted on social media that I was searching for a location for collection for a few hours the evening before our club event. I was eagerly contacted by Dan Sammon of Everybody's Gym who offered to put collection boxes out and to host my pick up for 3 hours on a Friday night. He reached out offering his business location to help in collecting toys for the drive. He placed donation boxes in his lobby and collected many great toys from very generous members of his gym. Dan and I plan on working together in the near future to continue our charitable donations to our community…

Camelot Lanes, in Boardman Ohio has been the location of our annual toy drive and gathering of "beards" for the past few years. They have welcomed us with open arms and treat our group like family! A few years back we felt it would be a fun time to invite other outlying clubs to a central location to meet for some fun, comradery, competition, and to do something good for our community. In years past we have gathered at Lake Tavern in Cortland Ohio for their annual beard and mustache competition which would always benefit Toys for Tots. They no longer hold this event but we felt, as a group we needed to continue this charitable event and gather toys for the local Toys for Tots. Camelot Lanes became our new home for where we convene each year for the gathering. They have been nothing but wonderful to us and we hope to continue our friendship with them and make our yearly bowling event/toy drive, bigger each year!

This year we decided to reach out to Suzie's Dogs and Drafts of Boardman Ohio, to see if they wanted to assist and become part of the Toys for Tots event. They kindly offered us their establishment after our blowing event. They gave members a great discount on food and beverages and also donated a portion of sales for that evening to donate. You can refer back to my previous blog post with Anthony and Drew of Steel City to get the full vibe of our visit to Suzies's and some of the cool things they offer. It is great to build relationships with local businesses and have them see our vision of helping our communities. Though 2 out of 3 of the clubs are from a fair distance from where we met, and where we donate, there are still people/children that need assistance everywhere and we are proud to help in any way we can! We hope to also grow our relationship with Suzie's and help the members of the Rust Belt Whisker Society grow their club, and influence, and help do great things!

As I wrap up my holiday adventure, I wanted to share one last thing. Each year I take the child to Breakfast with Santa. I know each town has their own event like this but we in Chardon are lucky enough to have the REAL Santa join us for this magical treat! My Christmas spirit was all but gone a few years back. It wasn't that Christmas was not there, but as life changes we loose that magic, and we loose those that helped make that magic what it was. Christmas became a lonely place that felt void of spirit and enjoyment for me once I lost my grandmother. Meeting my now wife, and her son really changed that for me about 5/6 years ago. Adding a child and his innocence into the mix really brought back that Christmas cheer. He was able to get me back to having that childlike feeling and that excitement I used to have. To add to my "Christmas re-birth" we discovered Breakfast with Santa at our local eating joint Morgan's. This took the magic to a whole new level, Santa was perfect in every way!!! He knew so many things about everything and dazzled the child which drove that nail in of Santa being real. I was even amazed at how good Santa looked, how he presented himself and just the overall goodness that he emitted. He gave the child a special Christmas marble made by the elves. It was a hand made beautiful white, red, and green swirled marble; quite breathtaking!

As the years have gone on Santa and Lukas have grown a special bond together. He knows so much about the child he gives him that Christmas cheer and love all year long. The magic of Santa is alive in our family. Being at the age where children are loosing their belief in this magical man, our home is still full of Christmas magic. Each Breakfast with Santa makes the spirt grow and helps us remember the reasons we feel fell in love with Christmas as a child. It also helps us realize part of the magic is to give to others that are struggling or who can't experience what we can due to hardship or some other downfall. I think this aspect, and being part of a group-all because of my beard, has really opened my eyes to focusing on helping others and trying to do good for the community. This is what MY Christmas spirt has evolved into and I hope that sharing these moments with my son inspire him to do the same as he gets older. Merry Christmas to everyone and enjoy my interview with Santa from a few months ago! Thank you all for a great first year as The Beardcaster. I hope 2017 I can provide more entertaining and captivating content for everyone to enjoy!!! Fillis Nav-did.

TOYS FOR TOTS EVERYBODIES GYM JUICED SMOOTHIE BAR BEARDS OF THE OLD NORTHWEST STEEL CITY BEARD AND MUSTACHE CLUB RUST BELT WHISKER SOCIETY CAMELOT LANES BARBATUS GROOMING SUZIE'S DOGS AND DRAFTS MORGANS ON THE SQUARE EPISODE 9-SANTA!!! MUSIC BY: CHRIS DONLEY HOLIDAY TUNES BY: AMERICAN ROCKSTAR