In 2026, the United States will be celebrating its 250th Anniversary. Just recently, an official government committee came up with a logo for the celebration. It will be interesting to see how Rochester chooses to celebrate. As mentioned in a previous article, the Bicentennial Celebrations included a Ball and plans for a small parade, a time capsule (to be opened on the 250th) and a town picnic, among other events.
One such event was the Beard Growing competition. It must have been popular, as it was repeated at a later celebration. Records don’t say how many beards were entered. The judges were members of the Old Dartmouth Militia who had an encampment on the Green during the festivities. They were Roland Trahan, Gary Golus and Richard Schweidenback.
The winners pictured here won in three different categories. From left to right are: Louis Ouelette for most unusual, George E. Church for the longest beard and Herbert Wood for best groomed. Each of the winners received a U.S. Savings bond, an apt prize for a Bicentennial contest. With just two years until the Nation’s 250th, we all need to think about how to celebrate, either by borrowing from the past or by coming up with new ideas and oh, yes, we need to find that time capsule.
By Connie Eshbach