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Le a ah A BSE 18- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 7, 1996 "Scugog"s Community Newspaper of Choice" Jokes, wisdom among the perks for barber By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star "YOU KNOW, it says on my certificate I'm a mas- ter,but really, I'm still just a Prentice." That's the kind of mus- REGION It's important to maintain your composter ing you might expect irom a man who has watched the world go by his shop window for the past 25 years, who's chatted and joked and hstened to the gentlemen legion of properly for it to be a success. @® Cut all materials into small pieces The smaller the pieces, the faster they will break down ® Add organic kitchen wastes and yard wastes in layers Cover kitchen wastes with yard wastes to deter unwanted insects and pests ® Keep the pile moist Use a garden hose or a watering can ® Turn your compost pile regularly This adds oxygen, which speeds up the process and helps prevent odours ® Harvest the finished compost Use it on your lawn or garden Small quantities of grass clippings can be added fo your compost pile -- but we encourage you fo AW oe 0 > 0" NE Stile eo For more information on Composting or Grasscycling ol [-Te E{-Nefelpl {ele @ {sT-0 {-Te [oly MoI M0 IV {a ToTs s MTT {EH To] at (905) 668-7721, or 1-800-372-1103. 4 J ) | i ! fi i } | | j | I i { ] i k I i i i i | ) i i f i J i i : grasscycle instead! i ) i i i ] { i i i i | | I i fi I i I i | i i I i i I i I | who've come 1n regularly to sit in his chair and pass the time. He's Bob Prentice, bar- ber. And this past week- end he paused to look back, with satisfaction, on the two and a half decades that have marked his ca- reer in Port Perry. Bob says it's inevitable that he'd wind up a bar- ber. It's in the blood. "I'm the third Prentice to barber in Port Perry," he said Saturday. "My uncle was a barber in Port Perry all his life, and I looked around. I said, it was a good career from him, so it's okay for me, [ guess." Uncle Art Prentice led the wav, and cousin Har- old Prentice also set up shop in Port. When it was Bob's turn to take up his shears, he joined Cynl "Jesse" James on Queen St. He was there for a little over a year before striking out on hisown. Back then, there were no less than four barber shops dotting Queen St. Now there is just Bob, who turns 50 this month. » He admits that a visit to his shop is a little like stepping back in time. There's a luxurious old red-leather barber's chair. There are bottles of after shave. There are combs, resting in that jar of blue stuff -- remember? And there are even straight ra- - zors lined on the counter, by the enormous mirror, over which hang the mounted fish that have been pulled from the wa- ters of Lake Scugog. "It'sa dying profession," Bob says of barbering. His | competition now consists of salons, staffed by sty- lists and technicians. "Look at me: I'm a living dinosaur." Which is not really a bad thing to be. "What you get here 1s tradition," says Bob, car- ryingon in an easy conver- sational tone that's been honed over 25 years of chit-chat with making friends and strangers alike. "I haven't changed this place from its 50's motif. "All I've got to sell 1s a standard, quality haircut, which 1s what a lot of peo- ple want. And if you give the people what they want, you'll do all right." NOWADAYS, IT'S com- mon wisdom that if you really want to what's going on in a town, you should go and listen in at the local coffee shop. Anyone with a small town background remembers just as well that for the real skinny on the issues of the day -- local, national and international -- all you had to do was sit in on the discussions goingon at the barber's. What's hot now? Politics. And that's a change. It used to be that during - playoff time, hockey domi- nated the banter in the barber shop. But it's faded into the background now, says Bob. That could be be- cause there are more pressing matters to deal with: or it could just be that the - season's too damned long, and all the Canadian contenders have been eliminated. "It used to be hockey, but now the topics really vary," he said. "(Recently resigned deputy Prime Minister Sheila) Copps 1s at the top of the charts "right now." And there's been plenty ot'discussion on what's go- ing on in the lives of the people who've sat in Bob's chair. He has customers who have visited him reg- ularly for 25 years, and a lot happens in a man's life in 25 years. "Some specialize in A CUT ABOVE FROM SKILLED CRAFTSMEN Dress up your porches, and doorways in the charm and tradition of Victorian Gingerbread trim. A wide selection of styles affordably priced! Victorian Gingerbread doors, gazebo, gables, shelves WCNC RIC Relais Nalalo gle i 133 Taunton Rd. W. Mon. - Fri, 10-5:30 Sat. 10-5 SIV a I \\ [ee] 13) 438-9663 Unit 13, Oshawa Sa to Eidon Lighting [| ---. a A SOLIL "WOOT NMNETTES COLOR COPIES Beautiful color photocopies from our Canon Color Laser Copier while you wait. Enlarge or Reduce your favorite family photos. STAR OFFICE CENTRE 188 Mary St. - Port Perry - 985-7383 know jokes, and some want to philosophize," said Bob. "I've heard a wonderful number of jokes... 1f only could remember them." He's watched as boys grew to men, and had boys of theirown. "I've cut three or four generations over 25 years," he said. "I have men walking in here now I don't recognize who tell me they got hair cuts here as a boy." And there have been the remarkable changes in the town itself. They've large- ly been for the better, Bob says, and they've helped to make Port Perry the kind of place people love to vis- 1t, and remember well. "It's quite a spot to loom back from," he says of all his years on Port's main drag. "It's evolved. It's all viable, and it's successful. I've got customers who come to Port Perry for the day; they've come from Scarborough. These peo- ple come here to spend quality time on the street here. ~ "People come here, and it's like going home. Even if they've never been here." IT'S CLEAR Bob Pren- tice loves what he does. You also get the impres- sion he couldn't imagine having taken another course in his life. "I wanted to do some- thing where I could stay in my community. When you look around, how much can you do?" he said. His career has enabled him to pursue a job he en- joys, and raise his kids -- two daughters, Jeanette and Leigh Ann -- in the kind of environment he and his wife of 21 years, Margaret, chose. "TI like it," he said sim- ply, "I like the people. You have to be a people person todo the job. "Hopefully, I'll be at it for another 25 years." See Carolyn See Dean See Carolyn Fleming and Dean Haugen get married. Wedding to take place Sat., June 15, 1996 at 3:00pm. Port Perry United Church "STAR" CLASSIFIEDS Buying or Selling Star ads reach more homes every week than any other area paper. PORT PERRY STAR PHONE (905) 985-7383