Indiana barber retires, some hope to keep tradition alive

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (AP) - On a chilly but sunny Friday in late January, the last barber in Posey County closed up shop for the final time.

The way Steve Burris tells the story, his decision to retire probably wasn't unexpected to anybody, except his wife Mary Ann and maybe himself.

Customers and friends had been occasionally asking him about it for years, Burris said, but he never had an answer.

Until he woke up on that January morning.

"My wife was already up. I walked down to the kitchen and I said, 'I opened in January 1971. I think I'll close it in January 2017,'" Burris said. "She said, 'When are you going to do it?' and I said, 'About noon today.'"

Downtown at his barber shop, Burris closed the blinds and hung a sign on the window. It said: "After 52 years in business and 46 years at 200 Main Street, I am retiring effective January, 27, 2017."

That was the extent of his plans.

"Now that I'm gone there are no barbers left in Posey County," he said. "When I first came to Mount Vernon, there were seven barber shops just in Mount Vernon, and at least dozen barbers. I'm the only one of those barbers still alive."

Although Burris has been slowly removing the memorabilia and personal items that made it his shop, the chairs and equipment that make it a barber shop will remain.

"I hope somebody comes in here and keeps this a barber shop," he said.

Building owners and law partners Trent Van Haaften and Adam Farrar operate their legal practice from an office next door. They would like to see the space continue as a barber shop too.

"Naturally, we want something in there, but we kind of have our hearts in getting another barber to come there," Farrar said. "We think it is well-suited to another barber. It would be great to find somebody who could make a career out of it, a life out of it, the way Steve did. We think that would be good for our community."

The law partners have made their office in the building since 2013 and have plans to renovate the building's second floor, Farrar said. They are optimistic that downtown Mount Vernon, with its redone riverfront park, is on the upswing.

Burris returned to the shop at the corner of Main and Second streets recently to talk about barbering and being a downtown business owner.

"For 46 years I was in this same place. I never went anywhere else. I never did anything else," Burris said.

Burris' barber shop was an oasis of calm while downtown Mount Vernon changed around it. Across the street a vacant lot offers a glimpse into that past.

A pharmacy and a dry goods store once stood there, Burris said. Later owners divided it up and called it a "mini-mall." When that dried up the building stood vacant until it was demolished.

"Downtown has changed tremendously in the last 50 years," he said. "It used to be that from Water Street down to Fifth Street every building was full of businesses. People lived upstairs in apartments."

Burris said he would like to see that return to Mount Vernon, even though he won't be observing it from the window of a barber shop.

"Mount Vernon has made a turnaround. Hopefully another barber will look at it from the same window I've been looking at and see Mount Vernon grow again," he said.

Burris was born in Mount Vernon but grew up and attended school in Evansville. After graduating high school, Burris decided barbering was an appealing career.

"It fit my personality," he said.

Graduating from the now closed Henderson Barber College in 1965, he went to work at the Lawndale Barbershop on Evansville's East Side. Soon, however, Burris returned to his native Mount Vernon to work in local barber Clyde Straw's shop on Fourth Street.

"I worked for him for five years. He taught me a lot, but I was ready to leave when I left," Burris said. "I was ready to get out on my own and this building had recently become available. It had been a Farmer's Home Loan Administration building."

Burris negotiated rent with the owner and rounded up some talented friends to help him build cabinets and a knee-height wall around the barber chair area and put in the proper plumbing and electric service.

In January 1971 he opened shop.

"I was the only one working here. I brought two chairs with the anticipation of hiring another barber, but after awhile I quit looking for anyone else," he said.

Business downtown stayed steady through the years, so Burris stayed at the location.

"I just lucked into a great location for a long time. I always said Second Street was the busiest street downtown," he said. "I could walk up to the window and see the Ohio River any time I wanted."

He enjoyed the wide variety of customers who came through the doors: Businessmen, shoppers, even farmers in town to visit the Farm Bureau Co-Op.

"You've got to be dedicated, be regular and get to work on time. You have to be there when you say you will be there, like any job," Burris said. "You have to do a good job and like what you - be friendly. You have to know when to talk and when not to talk. When it's busy, you work really hard."

Trends have changed over the years. Although more men go to beauty shops that cut women's and men's hair now, Burris said he still believes it's possible to earn a living as a barber.

"There are a lot of people in this world who don't want to go to a beauty shop," he said.

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Source: Evansville Courier and Press, http://bit.ly/2kErNJq

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com