Steampunks, bearded men and women, and some mighty fine beers rallied together to raise money for the Michigan Theatre of Jackson at Gears, Beards, and Beers 3.
Gears, Beards, and Beers 3
Capitol Steam and the Jackson Beard & Mustache Club once again joined forces to put together Gears, Beards, and Beers 3 at the Grand River Brewery and the Michigan Theatre of Jackson. As in the previous year, the event featured a vendor fair, beard contests, and a costume contest. Besides contests, beer, and fun, there were raffles from the vendors and the Jackson Beard & Mustache Club. To top it all off there was music by the Dizzy Drifters, Van HelSteam and the Trash Cats.
One of the masterminds behind Gears, Beards, and Beers was Lyman Robertson Jr. from the Jackson Beard & Mustache Club. He was looking quite dapper.
Michael Micklea, Jessi Crowden, and John Hernandez II were also instrumental in pulling the event together. They all took the stage at the Michigan Theatre of Jackson with a few words from the theater’s executive director, Steve Tucker.
Gears
Gears, Beards, and Beers 3 got started early with a wide array of vendors under the pavilion outside the Grand River Brewery, with a few more tucked inside. As you would expect the theme was mostly centered around steampunk accessories and art.
In addition to vendors, Errant Knight and Vague photography where on site to provide you with a distinctive portrait.
We enjoyed a fine meal and beers at Grand River Brewery after browsing through the vendors. The patio was spectacular on this glorious day. If you have not visited Grand River Brewery you are missing out on a gem.
Steampunks and Beards
Hats off to Steampunk Eddie and K3 Creations Artwork for the magnificent first and second place awards. Steampunk Eddie crafted the first place trophies and Kerrie Moyer from K3 Creations fashioned the second place pins. Sadly, my picture does not capture the glory of these fabulous prizes.
The Gears, Beards, and Beers competitions kicked into gear with steampunk costumes that bend the mind. Great work by all the contestants.
The facial hair contests ranged from faux beards to magnificent mustaches to big burly beards.
Nestled into the mix where miraculously styled beards of outrageous proportions.
Many thanks to the esteemed judges:
Tim Bair
Matt Pionk
Ed Thayer (aka Steampunk Eddie)
Beers
A new twist for this year’s Gears, Beards, and Beers event was a mini beer tasting and voting contest. Brews included the “Black Penny Porter” and “Monkey Mouth IPA” from Grand River Brewing, “Mr. Sunday Red Ale” from Paw Paw Brewing, and “Mind’s Eye” from Petoskey Brewing. All the beers were delicious. I had a hard time picking between them. In the end, I went with “Monkey Mouth”. It is a refreshing beverage with a welcome combination of hop bitterness tempered with malt sweetness. A very nice full bodied beer.
Tunes
Sadly, we missed seeing the Dizzy Drifters who played earlier in the day outside near the vendors. However, we did catch DJ Van HelSteam revving up the crowd at Gears, Beards, and Beers 3 at the Michigan Theatre of Jackson.
The Trash Cats played a great set of punk rockabilly between the judging of the contests and the awards. While most of the set was original music, they did throw in a faithful cover of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by the Stooges.
More Pictures
We’ve more pictures in our gallery. We don’t mind if you download the pictures and share on your favorite social media sites, but please give LifeInMichigan photo credit and don’t remove the watermark.
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