ter Ba be
55 Years Cuttin
Hair
by Susan Edmonston the facial shave, as well as shav- Gerold went to Kansas
Schweitzer Barber Shop in ing around the ears. Barbers also School of Barbering for six
Protection is closed, and the do facial massages but he, too, months at 912 East Douglas in
room here is now emptied, discontinued those. Wichita. Then he had to work
Gerold Schweitzer of Ashland, He cuts the customer's hair with a master barber for 18
our local barber, has been cut- then gives him the choice of months, and go back to Wichita
ting hair for 54 years -- 40 years whether he wants a shampoo, for the final test. Then he could
in Protection. The length of tune to get a hair- be on his own.
His typical day is showing up cut depends on the waiting line, All-day barber picnics were
at his barbershops -- he had the movement of the child, and planned annually. Those were
three of them -- at 8 a.m., taking the talk of the adult, held near a lake in north Wichita.
an hour for lunch fromnoonto 1 He now charges $13 for a hair- Gerold took Mary Jo to those
p.m. Quitting time for him is 5 cut but Gerold remembers when several times. While in Protec-
pan. the cost years ago was only 50- tion and Coldwater, Gerold
Sometimes even if the blinds 75 cents. The price of a haircut joined the Lions Club.
are down at 5 pan. some will poke for a child and adult used to be It was a very active organiza-
their head in the door and say, different but are the same cost tion and he ate at Don's with
"Can you do one more?" now. them in the back room. He also
When he started in AshlandAt conventions, barbers are was in Kiwanis at Ashland. They
with Earl Boren in the 1960s,they shown new styling techniques, would meet at the Hardesty Ho-
stayed open until 9 p.m. Satur- Long ago, there were the duck- tel for business lunch.
day nights, tail, crew cuts, "swan" (double Gerold has grown beards for
Gerold says the joy of being parted), and waxing. Some men centennial celebrations in Ash-
a barber is "being your own want their hair cut every week, land. People have commented
boss." He also enjoys the con- and that is good for his busi- that with his beard, he looks like
versation, ness. Kenny Rogers. He had a beard
When he started his own bar- Others wait until three days when Dave Webb took a photo
bershop in September 1968 along before a wedding, funeral,of him a month ago, but Gerold
Highway 160 in Ashland, the ballgame or special event to is generally clean shaven.
first thing he did was eliminate come get a haircut. Barbering in three towns
A recent photo of barber Gerold Schweitzer shows him awaiting another cus-
tomer, photo by Dave Webb
560 Acres Great Hunting & Pasture Land
Comanche County, Kansas
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - 10:30 a.m.
Veterans' Building at 239 E. Main Street
To view this property, please call for appointment with one of our staff!
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proved rough and it was hard
times for Gerold as a barber in
the early 1970s when boys wore
their hair long. To have extra in-
come for his growing family, he
became a custodian for seven
years, working alongside with
Don Maris at Ashland High
School for four years, from 6 aM.
to 4 p.m. then working at the bar-
bershop in the evenings as long
as people stopped in to get their
hair cut.
In the late 1970s and 1980s
Gerold was in law enforcement
serving as a Clark County deputy
nights and weekends. For three
or four years, he served in Pro-
tection and Coldwater, and
patroled the Coldwater lake on
weekends.
One memory of his is that kids
hated haircuts in the flat top days
-- those clippers and vibrators
got so hot, he had to unplug the
clippers and cool the blades
down. Another memory is that
Bruce Allender, the barber in
Protection, would bring his chil-
dren over to Ashland for
Wednesday night catechism.
Gerold and Bruce cut each
other's hair every three weeks
during this time and so the two
men got to know each other.
When Bruce was accidentally
electrocuted in 1976 in his side-
line business of mobile homes,
Protection businessman Jick
Davis approached Gerold and
said, "Why don't you come over
to Protection? We'll make it
worth your time." Jick also told
him to call Bruce's wife and let
her know he might be interested
in the Allender Barber Shop.
She was grateful to be able to
sell him the business. Gerold
made arrangements with Glenn
Maris at Farmers State Bank and
soon was in Protection to give
haircuts. Also in 1976, he pur-
chased Earl's barbershop on
Main Street and moved from
Highway 160 to downtown,
where he is still located. His bar-
bershop in Ashland was open
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat-
Maverick James Redger, died
May 14, 2016. Born Nov. 11,
2015, he was born with a special
heart and fought a hard
battlethrough his short live.
His survivors include: his
parents, Justin David (JD)
Redger and Gayla Redger; and
his sister Elizabeth Mahayla (Elle
Mae) Redger, who all currently
live in Protection; his grandpar-
ents, David and Linda Redger of
Sitka, and Danny and Mary
Eubank of Protection; and his
great-grandmother Nadine
McPhail of Wichita; as well as a
large extended family.
Memorials are suggested to
Children's Mercy Hospital or
Ronald McDonald House Chari-
ties in care of Hatfield-Prusa Fu-
neral Home, P.O. Box 417, Cold-
water, KS 67029.
Services are pending and will
be announced at a later tune.
urdays.
In 1978, Gerold added Cold-
water to his traveling route when
Jerry Adams wanted to sell his
barbershop. Garth McMillen at
the Peoples Bank helped him
make that purchase possible.
Gerold then cut hair in Coldwa-
ter on Wednesdays.
Two years ago, he stopped
going to Coldwater and his bar-
bershop there was changed into
an ice cream shop and is now
Auntie M's.
He then began coming to Pro-
tection twice a week.
Gerold was born in Perryton,
Tex., Jan. 21, 1942. His family
moved to Ashland in October of
1952. Gerold's first job in Ash-
land was as a 13-year-old work-
ing for 10¢ an hour at the Dairy
Bar along the highway, by the
museum.
He graduated from Ashland
High School in 1960. During his
high school days, Gerold worked
at Roberts' grocery store for five
years before going to barber
school in 1961.
He came back to Ashland to
barber with Earl Boren in Octo-
berof 1961.
He met his wife-to-be Mary
JoCox (May 2, 1943, and a gradu-
ate of Bloom High School) be-
cause she had no car. She
worked at Helen's Beauty Shop,
a block south of the barbershop
and walked by his window too
many tunes.
They were married Sept. 2,
1%2.
Mary Jo substituted for Mar-
garet Waugh at Mary's Beauty
Shop. In 1969 she became a long-
time nurse's aide at Fountain
View Villa in Ashland.
Nowadays, he goes with his
wife Mary Jo to the Ashland
Community Center for Senior
Meals. They attend the Ashland
First Christian Church.
The Schweitzers raised five
children -- Rhona, Donna,
Raymond, Cindi, and Justin (who
died in 1991), 15 grandchildren,
and three great-grandsons.
They bought their present
home in Ashland in 1965 and had
it remodeled by his father Ken-
neth Schweitzer and later by Jim
Baker. The family enjoys sitting
outside on their long porch/
deck.
His barbering will cover 55
years this October. Gerold is now
taking one day at a time. He
hasn't been in the Ashland and
Protection barbershops for sev-
eral months as he needs knee
surgery. Surgery scheduled for
May 2 was postponed until his
health improves.
Gerold loves to visit and he
and Mary Jo go over to Protec-
tion to eat at Don' s Place. Be sure
to stop and say hello.
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