NEWPORT — Make-A-Wish Vermont announced the ‘Best Beard in Vermont’ award for 2019, and local Eythan Burnham, of Newport, took home best “Freestyle Beard.”
Steve Reilly, of Bristol, was named Best Beard in Vermont as the ultimate winner of the Third Annual Vermont Beardies held in Burlington over the weekend.
Over 100 bearded Vermonters submitted their beards and more than 650 of their friends and supporters voted with their donations to raise nearly $55,000 to grant wishes to Vermont’s children facing life-threatening medical conditions.
“My father and I did it last year and had a ball, so we decided to do it again,” Burnham said. “I Love seeing how these kids with disabilities or illnesses strive and are actually a kid for a day, and get to forget about all the hard things they are going through.”
In the finals on Saturday night, the top fundraising contestants were judged in three categories:
Best Urban Beard, Best Freestyle Beard, and Best Backwoods Beard.
The Best Urban Beard award went to Jim Beebe-Woodard of Underhill.
