Beards of Denver

It’s not everyday that a girl walks into a Chicken Wings joint and encounters one of the most impressive beards she’s ever seen; but when you’re a lady of Beards of Denver, sometimes that hankering for wings combined with an affinity for discovering great beards collides, and magic happens. Beards of Denver fans, meet Sam. Originally from Saginaw, Michigan, he’s lived in Denver for 14 years, and his amazing beard is a testament to his scholarship; he’s been growing his beard for three and a half years, the length of his stint as a doctoral student in the creative writing program at University of Denver. Sam loves having his beard, and stated it’s his “friend maker;” it helps him get his message across to people by presenting a certain constitution, one of patience and that he works for things, and he prizes the “subliminals that come from the nonverbals of the beard” (we couldn’t have stated it any better than that). Sam’s wonderful wife Pari is the number one fan of his beard, and has actually only seen him once without it (impressive because they’ve been together for something like 19 years!) Pari says Sam’s long beard is also softer than day-old scruff and encouraged him to use morrocan oil in it for better care. Sam is a huge fan of Al at Al’s Barber Shop downtown on Larimer; Al makes sure Sam’s beard is all trimmed up, particularly around his mouth, which we’ve learned is essential. Both Sam and Pari stated that Sam’s beard changes interactions with people because he gets approached far more often the longer it gets. You think that people build bridges? Well, we have the proof here that beards do.—-Photo Credit by Dave Getzschman.