Willie Derricott, co-owner and operator of Chic Diverse, a barbershop and beauty salon at 88 E. Mill St. in downtown Akron, didn’t get as many takers as he hoped when he treated University of Akron students and faculty to $5 haircuts and other salon services at big discounts. And with free food and beverages to boot.
Derricott and his staff, clad in Zips T-shirts, did so Monday on their traditional day off, making it a party atmosphere for those wise enough to capitalize on the bargain.
In the end, it didn’t matter how Derricott and his staff graded the event. His Zips clients, students and faculty alike, gave them an A+ for the bargain-basement prices with penthouse detail.
Sophomore accounting major Mike Socko of Ashtabula chuckled that he never complains when he sees a bargain like this.
“I didn’t get a haircut last school year until I went home for the summer. So it was really long,” Socko said, giving insight on a college student’s achingly tight budget. “I didn’t get it cut again until just before I returned to school” in late August.
Chronic do-gooder Derricott sees the $5 haircut day as a way to salute students for staying in school but also as a way to help them “keep a little extra spending money in their pockets to buy pizza.” That remark drew an easy laugh and vote of approval from Socko as he spun around for a final look in the mirror.
J. Richard Elliott of Bath Township, professor of chemical engineering, called the $5 haircut “a real deal” and the free food — hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, ribs — “an added bonus.”
Satisfied customer Elliott, who plans to return, said he last got a cut two months ago in Istanbul, Turkey, where the price would have been comparable to the $5 special were it not for the $1,200 airplane ticket.
Stylist Laday Gordon had happy customers in Cheray Lillard, a sophomore biology major from Cleveland, and Matt Gregorcic, a freshman respiratory therapy major from Bridgeport.
“I needed a haircut. I walked past the shop the other day and saw the sign on the window for $5 haircuts today,” Gregorcic said. “You know I couldn’t pass that up! I just can’t believe there aren’t long lines!”
Antonio Kennedy is a freshman from Cleveland. While he may be undecided on his major, he was decisively happy with his bargain. “I needed a haircut,” he said. Finding out that he had accidentally walked in on a big sale turned out to be “really good timing.”
Kennedy’s only regret? “Eating before I came here,” he said, eyeing the ample smorgasbord the staff had provided.
“We’re trying to make our establishment grow,” Gordon said of “Zips Day” at Chic Diverse, so the students “need to know we’re here.”
Chic Diverse already offers discounted haircuts to UA students with ID: $12 compared with $15 for adults.
Also jumping in to help this day were Chic Diverse stylists Kandys Thomas and Darnella McCoy, and Brandon Williams from Another True Creation barbershop in Akron.
Stan Hywet donates apples
Major kudos to Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens for its over-the-top generosity in donating ripe apples from its historical orchard to Haven of Rest Ministries.
“Staff and members of Grace Bible Church in Manchester picked 700 pounds of Baldwin and Golden Delicious apples for Haven of Rest, which ripened about two weeks early because of this year’s warm spring and summer,” Stan Hywet spokeswoman Donna L. Spiegler said. “After the apples are picked, kitchen staff at Haven of Rest will process the apples into applesauce and other apple desserts.
“The apple trees in the orchard just inside the front gate are heirloom varieties, and were replanted in 1991 from cuttings from the original trees. This is the second year in a row that Stan Hywet has welcomed Haven of Rest to pick apples — with clearance for donation of the fruit from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.”
Domestic violence class
The Barberton community is invited to a domestic violence workshop, The Voice Behind the Wall, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 13. The event is sponsored by Power of a Dream: Sisters Helping Sisters Ministries in partnership with Livingstone Baptist Church in Barberton, where the event will be held at 288 Harter Ave. Lunch will be served and door prizes awarded.
Workshop leaders include Nadine Bates, motivational speaker and mistress of ceremonies; Pastor Paul Watson, pastor of the church; Bonnie Watson, first lady of the church; Dr. Martha Banks, neurologist; David Siko, Summit County probation officer; Victim Assistance representatives; Greg Head, self-defense instructor and founder of MBS Martial Arts; and Elder Joseph Lee, grief healing counselor. Men also are encouraged to share their stories.
Another domestic violence workshop is planned for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 10 at First Apostolic Faith Church, 790 Easter Ave., Akron.
For more information, please call 888-909-6723, email dream.powerful@gmail.com or visit the website www.dreampowerful.com. Founding president is Brenda L. Justice.
Special birthday gifts
Big, beautiful bouquets to Abhay Kunduru, a first-grader at Revere’s Hillcrest Elementary School, for asking guests to his recent sixth birthday party to forgo gifts and instead make donations to the American Cancer Society on behalf of the Revere Relay for Life.
Ron Garman, a sixth-grade Revere Middle School teacher and Revere Relay for Life survivor/committee member, notes that Abhay’s generous gesture resulted in donations of $300.
“I thought a gift from such a caring young child deserves recognition for helping others, especially since relinquishing toys and such on his special day at such a young age seems to me a huge act of unselfish kindness,” Garman said. I agree.
Abhay is the son of Siba and Chinnapa Kunduru.
Auction and dinner benefit
Project: St. Nicholas Returns Inc. is hosting its 18th annual auction/dinner fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at St. George Fellowship Centre, 3204 Ridgewood Road, Copley Township.
Proceeds make Christmas brighter for those who have fallen on hard times. Cost of the auction/dinner is $25 a person, $100 to $500 for sponsorships. Respond by Oct. 29 to Register@psnr.org or mail to PSNR Inc., P.O. Box 36271, Canton, OH 44735-6271. Auction items are still needed.
Coat giveaway
Major kudos to Jere Shafer, who coordinates the massive Coat Give-Away at Hope Community Church in Hudson. There will be a “coats away” at Fortis College in Ravenna on Nov. 3 and another at Hope Community Church for residents of Streetsboro on Nov. 17, Shafer said. “The response has been huge with us running out of sizes last year. Thankfully, people had given money and I was able to buy the extras so that everyone who came got a coat. The projected need this year will be over 1,000 coats. We have provided coats not only for kids but adults too.”
What’s needed are winter-weight coats that are new or gently worn (clean with no spots, rips or tears, and with working zippers) in all sizes, with particular emphasis on boys and girls grades 1-8.
Drop off coats in the collection box at the front entrance of the church at 3033 Middleton Road, Hudson. Financial donations accepted; make checks out to Hope Community Church with “coats away” on the memo line.
The giveaway schedule is as follows: 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 3 at Fortis College, 653 Enterprise Parkway, Ravenna; and 9 to 11 a.m. Nov. 17, at Hope Community Church.
Individuals receiving coats must be present. For more information please see http://hopecma.com.
Residents in need
Jack Hayes, president of Connecting Touch Therapy & Wellness Center Inc. in Cuyahoga Falls, is hosting a drive for new and gently worn coats through Oct. 15. Springtime of Hope will distribute the coats to residents in need.
“For each item you bring in, you will be entered in a drawing for a free half-hour massage and a paraffin hand treatment, so the more you bring in the more chances you have to win,” Hayes said.
Connecting Touch is at 960 Graham Road, Suite 4, Cuyahoga Falls. Coats should be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, please call 330-945-9354.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com
