Salisbury City Councilman Muir Boda and local developer Brad Gillis are among those racing to grow the most impressive beards in The Brothers of the Brush contest, part of the county’s 150th anniversary celebration.

Also competing are County Councilman Matt Holloway; Director of County Purchasing Nick Rice; Assistant County Administrator Weston Young; Planning & Zoning’s Tyler Walston; Recreation, Parks & Tourism’s Ken Griffith; and Recreation, Parks & Tourism Director Steve Miller.

Young is vacationing overseas, but agreed to start sprouting whiskers last week when the event began during the Salisbury Festival.

“Now we’re international,” Miller joked.

As the beard battle launched, Miller and Holloway were shaved at the festival by experts at Eric Ludwig’s Downtown Barbershop.

“I had a short beard. It wasn’t a big beard. I kept it tight, but I said goodbye to it Saturday night,” Miller said.

“It hope it will come back quickly. I’m trying to grow a full beard. The idea is to grow the fastest beard. I’m kind of curious to see how well it grows,” he said.

And how does Mrs. Miller feel about that?

“Not great,” he said, laughing, “but we’ll recover.”

Registration is open until Sept. 1, said Nicole Wheatley, who handles public relations for Recreation, Parks and Tourism.

“There’s still time to get involved,” she said, adding the contest is free and open to the public. Men who have a beard they don’t want to lose can enter other categories including moustache, partial beard, most unusual and worst beard. To register, see WicomicoCounty.org/653/Wicomico-County-150-Year-Celebration.

Judging will be on Friday, Sept. 15, during 3rd Friday. Trophies will be awarded in each category, as well as prize packages that will include items from Uncle Jon’s Soap in Berlin.

The idea for the contest was taken from the County’s 100-year anniversary 50 years ago, when there was also a beard growing challenge. “We were trying for nostalgia,” Miller said.

The county’s sesquicentennial will be celebrated on two weekends in August and September. See wicomicocounty.org.