As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve 2009, a few brave men did not start the year off with January, but rather, the manliest month of them all: Manuary.

South alumni Dean Adams and Greg Manos, seniors at the time, started the month of Manuary, along with a tradition to be passed down to the hairiest, manliest men of South.

For the rookies out there, Manuary is a month where men get to showcase their facial hair, in which case they shave it at midnight on Jan. 1, and let it grow to its maximum potential by the end of the month.

There have been similar months, such as “No Shave November”, but South students prefer, and have stayed loyal to the tradition of Manuary.

According to senior participant Steven Mainzer, he has known about Manuary ever since he got to GBS due to the excitement coming from the upperclassmen.

“I looked up to the older guys who could actually grow lots of facial hair and still look somewhat presentable,” Mainzer said.

Senior Joe Hampton shared that he has been growing facial hair ever since the sixth grade, although it did grow in a reversed fashion.

“I started to grow a lot of peach-fuzz at first,” Hampton said. “And then all of a sudden I had massive sideburns.”

Hampton, being a top contender, finds it fun to see how long he can get his facial hair in a month, and also respects the men who can’t exactly play at his level.

“First of all, some kids can’t even grow facial hair,” Hampton said. “But I respect the effort out of the kids who participate but don’t have a lot to show for it.”

Mainzer elaborated that one shouldn’t get down on themselves if their facial hair “is
scruffy or has no texture”. According to him, the encounters the contestant will have with people in late January can actually be very humorous due to their disheveled-looking face.

“People are going to ask me, ‘Do you shower?’ and I’m going to have to say ‘No’,” Mainzer said.

The bold men participating in Manuary have high hopes to be accompanied by “all true men of South”, hairy or not, for their one month escapade. Bring warmth to those dark, cold holiday nights with some mustaches, sideburns, neckbeards and more.