Barber hangs up his scissors after 47 years

Jan. 2, 2009

It was a busy morning as a steady stream of customers stopped by Ken Woods' barber shop for a trim Tuesday.

Most of them didn't know it would be their last cut in the small shop on Pleasant Street, but after 47 years as a barber, Woods is retiring and closed his doors for good Wednesday.

Woods started a shop with his brother Harold in Moncton back in 1961, but when he met his wife, she didn't want to stay in Moncton so he moved to the Miramichi.

"I was in love."

Almost 40 years later, the shop's floor is worn in a half circle around the barber's chair from where Ken walked around his customers during their haircuts and shaves.

A wooden sign that says Kens Barber Shop hangs in the window and calendars from local businesses are scattered along the wood panelled walls.

As customers come in, they sit on the old bench seat, avoiding the sunken cushion and torn vinyl at one end worn down from years of use.

Fred McKay was there for a cut Tuesday and didn't know Ken was retiring. He said Ken has been cutting his hair for a long time and he will have to start to looking for a new barber.

"He deserves it."

Before he stepped outside after his cut, McKay shook Ken's hand, wished him well and told him he would be missed.

"Another landmark gone."

With each customer that morning, Ken explained how he started out with his brother and that Harold stayed in the business for 50 years.

"I was gonna try 50 too, but my legs and hips won't let me," he said.

Last year, when his back started to bother him, he decided it was time to retire.

"It's just been getting a little worse and a little worse," he said.

Even with his back problems, Ken was quick with his clippers and scissors. He worked away as customers climbed in and out of his chair, setting to work without even asking what they wanted.

"Most people just want a regular hair cut," he says.

Martin Bohan has been one of Ken's customers for over 30 years and said he was a good barber with a nice personality.

"You get used to him."

Although he was surprised to hear Ken was retiring, Bohan said it was nice to be one of the last to get a hair cut from him at the shop.

"Pretty priviledged."

But he wasn't the only Bohan to get a cut from Ken over the years. His daughter used to go to the shop with him when she was younger and when she was two he had Ken cut off a curl on the back of her head.

Bohan laughed when he said his wife didn't know until they got home and she wasn't very happy about it.

"My wife still talks about it yet."

The buzz from the clippers droned on as Ken chatted with his customers about happenings around the Miramichi, while a radio crackled from a bad reception.

When a Prince song comes over the air, it seems out of place in the old barber shop where Ken still uses a straight razor to shave his customers necks.

People used to get a shave with every hair cut, but Ken said he gradually gave fewer and fewer until he finally stopped because he wasn't getting enough practice.

In those days, he used to sharpen the razor with a strap, but was never good at it so he switched to disposable blades.

"It was never good for me because I could never get it sharpened right," he said.

When John LaRocque sat in the chair, he laughed when asked how long he has been going to Ken.

"A long time."

He said he lost his wife around this time last year and he likes that Ken is easy to talk to.

"I sit here at ease."

Natalie Daigle, Ken's daughter, said she has mixed feelings about her father's retirement because the shop wasn't just a place of employment for him and he will miss the social aspect of it.

"I think it's a well deserved retirement, for sure."

But even though he is closing the shop, there will be a bright circle on the floor left behind by the barber's chair Ken took home with him so he can do a bit of work there.

Daigle said her sons will still get their hair cut by their grandfather, even once he retires.

"I wouldn't take him to anybody else."

Doug Shanahan was a regular visitor to the shop, even if he didn't need a hair cut. He said it was the centre of town and he used to stop in every day.

"We'll miss that."

When he saw him last, Ken told him to drop by the house for his cuts and Shanahan said he won't lose any customers.

"But you can't go there and loaf."

Ken's nephew J. D. Woods has been going to his uncle for regular brush cuts since he moved back to the Miramichi in 2000 and said the retirement is going to be a loss for that part of town.

"I think that's quite a thing for downtown Newcastle."

Ken said he enjoyed meeting the people who would stop by his shop and will miss that part of the job.

"You meet some awfully nice people."

But things have changed since he started. Back then he wouldn't get out of the shop until 9 or 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays when the buses would come in from Red Bank and Blackville.

"Busy, busy, busy," he said.

After so many years, he has a lot of dedicated customers and said he hates to leave them.

"I hate to give it up."