Wednesday, July 15, 2015

On barber schools, then and now.

The name Marshall Pence rang a bell.

Snipping set-backs: Jeffersonville barber school appeals to students with troubled pasts, by Danielle Grady (News and Tribune)

JEFFERSONVILLE — Marshall Pence could have sought out students with clean records and plenty of opportunities to learn at his barber school when he opened it in 2011. He also could have hired self-important, suited men to lead his classes. But that’s not what he wanted.

“I’m seeking after the people who have got their hands in the air and they said ‘I’m ready to give it up; I’m tired,’” he said. “Those are the people I want because those are the real stories.”

As it turns out, that's because almost exactly 10 years ago, another of his barber schools was operating in New Albany, and I wrote abut it.

$4 haircuts return to downtown New Albany.

... We talked him into taking in a city council meeting that same night, and Councilman Cappuccino’s bravura performance made quite an impression on Marshall.

Happily, Marshall decided to open the barber college, anyway.

Unlike Paul Harvey, I cannot tell you the rest of the story, primarily because I don't remember what happened apart from Pence's school being open a while, and then gone.

I wish him the best in Jeffersonville.

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