Let It Grow Wild!
ctwk | March 17th, 2010 | Comments OffChins up! Measurement of growth rate and presentation took a new perspective at the grand finale of the Change the World Kids’ Let It Grow Wild! mustache c
ontest last Wednesday evening. Contestants and supportive community members gathered for the grand judging and a celebration dinner on April 14. Since February, members of our community, including teens and gentlemen who had been shaving for decades, took a break and grew for green. The dinner was sublime, and the evening was wildly fun.
The nine contestants excelled in world-class style and creativity. Spiked beard and eyebrows. Bushy lumberjack. Virile Italian crisp style. Even a half full-beard and half clean-shaven (with a small smiley face design of hair as a cheek logo).
The judges, Anne Dean, Kent McFarland, and Sophie Leiter, measured and deliberated for an hour. Equipped with calipers, measuring tapes, tweezers, and rulers, they scrutinized each contender. Adjudicator David Doolittle made sure that rules were followed. Guests watched the proceedings while enjoying a fabulous dinner prepared by Brian Allen of the Woodstock Farmers’ Market and caterer Michael Bellefeuille.
Change the World Kids declared everyone a winner and presented each contestant with a home-baked burly man’s pie. The final decision of the judges? Change the World Kid Jake Lucas took first prize, which was dinner at Long Trail Brewery for two and a membership at the Woodstock Recreation Center gym for a month. The runner-up was Eric Johnston, who received a gift certificate to Three Tomatoes Trattoria.
Monies raised from the sale of votes will help send the Change the World Kids on their work trip to Costa Rica. In fifty-five days at 1:30AM, one day after graduation, an extremely enthusiastic group of twenty-one Change the World Kids will begin their journey to their Bosque para Siempre rain forest corridor — or better put, corridor where rain forest should be. For seven years, members of the group have gone down to work together, re-foresting destroyed acres, collecting tree seeds in the rain forest, performing bird and tree research, working in their tree nursery, and more. They plant on land that they’ve helped to purchase and conserve. June is rainy season, and they’re hoping to plant a huge number of trees, taking advantage of the natural irrigation.
When the contestants paraded into hall, the audience cheered. Each contestant had put his face forward and had come out of his comfort zone to help make a positive difference in the world. The community supported them and a group of local teens that works hard to help individuals and our environment. As Change the World Kids say, “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”








