Curly
and Competitive
Bremerton's Bruce Roe expects a hairy time -- again -- when he compares dusters with the world's best
September 24, 2003
Sporting a big, bushy, tip-curling moustache, Bruce Roe looks
like the intrepid detective Sherlock Holmes or one of the early villains
of the Wild West.
But his persona for the worldwide moustache contests he enters is that of
the famous lawman, Wyatt Earp. He also can be seen each year moseying around
Earp-like at the Kitsap County Fair with his sidekick, Gary Johnson.
Roe's moustache is similar to the "handlebar" but is broader and bushier. It's entered in the "Hungarian" class, one of seven traditional classes featured in these contests. Other options are the English, Imperial, Dali, Chinese, Freestyle and Natural, where the only grooming aid that can be used is port wine.
Stretching 10 inches long from tip to tip, Roe's moustache is getting groomed and fine-tuned for the World Beard and Moustache Championships on Nov. 1 in Carson City, Nev. His classification has been re-named "Wild West" for this competition.
"In my first two contests, I didn't place in the top five, but I realized that the winners had costumes and characters so I decided, as an American, a Wild West character would work best for me," he says.
He's come in second in his category in the last two world contests he's entered. All four contests have been in Europe.
He knew nothing about beard and moustache growing contests until someone approached him at a wedding to tell him about some wax, mentioned the contest, and then sent him an application and information.
Intrigued with the idea, he went to Trondheim, Norway, with his son for his first contest in 1997. Though he didn't place, he was hooked and joined the first moustache club ever formed, the Handlebar Club in London with members in nine countries. It will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2007.
"We've met some of the most wonderful people over there. Europeans are much more into this than we are over here," Roe says.
Roe says the president of the Handlebar Club never brags about his moustache, which measures six feet from tip to tip. The ends are so tightly curled you could never tell it's that long, but he makes quite a sight wearing his deer-slayer cap and riding a penny-farthing bicycle.
Roe's wife, Tommie, says one of the contests in Germany was a big thrill. Bruce was the only American out of more than 200 contestants. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employee says he wore both a beard and moustache at least 30 of his 52 years. But he shaved off his beard several years ago when his 3-year-old niece took one look at him and ran crying from the room, screaming, "Me no like Uncle Bruce! He scary!"
A properly trimmed and trained moustache takes a lot of grooming, he says.
"I can empathize with girls who have a fancy hairdo," he says. "It takes me about 15 minutes to groom it normally and about a half hour for a contest."
What is his biggest grooming aid?
"Hair spray," says Tommie, his grooming assistant when he's getting ready for a contest. "If he finds a stray hair at the last minute, I cut it off rather than trying to blend it in -- and believe me, it was pretty scary the first time I had to do that."
Tommie says everyone at the contests is serious about competing, but they all love to have a good time. They also have a sense of humor about their moustaches.
One of their moustachioed German friends told her she'd better be careful when she kissed Bruce, because "he could put your eye out with that tip."
But Tommie adds with a grin, "There's an old saying we women with guys who have facial hair like. 'A kiss without a tickle isn't worth a nickel.' "
Written by Sue Edwards. A contributing writer for The Sun. Reach editor JoAnne Marez at (360) 792-9208 or at jamarez@thesunlink.com
Bruce's Bushy Bunch
Bruce Roe has formed a moustache club for Kitsap County. Check out his Web site at whiskerclub.org (your here) or call him at (360) 377-9050. Other moustache club information is on www.handlebarclub.org.uk.