Jaeden Vien has won the first ever Battle of the Beards GROW-vember competition at College of the Rockies by sprouting a marvelous beard and moustache in one short month. The contest ran throughout November and culminated in a showdown on Wednesday, Nov. 30. A total of $263.27 was raised, mainly by Blaze Dobson.

A member of the COTR Students’ Association, Dobson organized the event. “I got started because I’m a part of the Canadian Cancer Society and wanted to do something with GROW-vember. I had a meeting with Lori Stevenson and Patti Moore and we came up with the idea of a competition at the College for growing beards and raising money for prostate cancer with all the proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

“It’s the same concept as MO-vember,” Dobson continued, “except there were prizes involved donated by Staples, the Apollo Restaurant and the Students’ Association for whoever raised the most money or had the best facial hair.

“My personal experience with cancer is that too many around me have either died or been diagnosed with the disease. What did it for me was my best friend’s mom died of cancer. Since then I made a vow that I’d fight cancer of all types; any form of cancer, I’ll get involved in the fight.”

Dobson has bigger and better plans for the event next year to get more people involved and raise more money. “This was just a trial run,” he said.

Above photo: Five students participated in the first annual Battle of the Beards event at College of the Rockies to raise money for prostate cancer. They are: (left to right) Jakob Walkley (second place); Kellan Ward; Blaze Dobson (third place); Ryan Diotte; and first place winner Jaeden Vien.

By Betty Roper/College of the Rockies

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