Das Bierhaus, an authentic German restaurant located on Church Street, celebrated manhood this past Sunday.

The restaurant celebrated its fourth annual Mustache Manuary beard and mustache competition.

The event was started in 2010 as a way to raise money for prostate cancer research.

UVMÕs Troy Headrick, assistant director of the center for student ethics & standards, won best in show for his full beard and styled mustache.

Headrick started growing his first full beard six months ago and was surprised by his success in the Manuary competition, he said.

ÒI donÕt grow my facial hair ironically at all,Ó he said. ÒIÕve always just enjoyed changing up my look.Ó

Headrick expressed interest in advising a student-run beard and mustache club at UVM.

The club would aim to welcome all facial hair fanatics and participate in the Manuary event.

Rocking a three-tiered freestyle mustache, Das Bierhaus owner Nick Karabelas is a self-proclaimed facial hair expert and served as a judge for SundayÕs contest.

ÒI come from a long line of mustaches,Ó he said.

The concept of Manuary developed after one of KarabelasÕ friends died of prostate cancer.

All the contestÕs proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

ÒIÕm a huge believer in karma,Ó Karabelas said. ÒItÕs drawing attention to a good cause.Ó

ÔNo Shave November,Õ or ÔMovember,Õ provided the inspiration for Mustache Manuary.

ÒWe figured, alright, well people have been dedicated and theyÕve grown it out all the way through November,Ó Karabelas said. ÒLetÕs call that training for Manuary.Ó

Celebrating its fourth annual occurrence, Manuary has increased its fundraising success from just shy of $500 to over $1,000.

ÒIÕm hoping this year we get to $1,250,Ó Karabelas said. ÒThat would be awesome.Ó

With growing participation as well as sponsorship from Von BargenÕs Jewelry, the Bern Gallery and GentlemenÕs Top Option Salon, Manuary has developed into a community event.

ÒItÕs kind of taken on a life of its own,Ó Karabelas said.

In previous years, contestants were judged based on crowd applause, but according to Karabelas, this method proved imprecise and now several judges rank beards and mustaches on a scale of one to 10.

ÒWeÕve got a precise set of rules that we go by,Ó Karabelas said.

ÒWe follow the World Beard and Mustache ChampionshipsÕ official guidelines, so, for example, mustaches can extend no farther than one centimeter beyond the corner of the mouth,Ó he said.

Karabelas said that he anticipates the event will be successful for years to come.

ÒIf this is the first time anybody is hearing about it, they can start growing their mustache for next year today and they have a 365 day head start,Ó he said.