By Carol Langston, Special to the SRC
Photo/Submitted
Salem area hair stylists filled a back to school need in the area Aug. 2 providing 40 haircuts for area students. . Pictured from left are Tia York with Sheer Passion Salon and her little helper, Organizer Sarah Clairday with Sar’ndipity; Ross Carter with Farm Bureau Insurance; Amanda Hall with Elite Home Care and Maggie Shelton, Hair Hut.
Thanks to the generosity of local hair stylists and business leaders, several dozen children and youths from the tri-county region are going back to school this year with fresh haircuts and smiles on their faces.
Organizers Sarah Clairday, owner of Sar’ ndipity on the square in Salem, and Amanda Hall, account executive at Elite Home Health and professional cosmetologist, said the event was designed to give back to the community and allow the kids to look their best for back to school.
Students came from the Salem, Viola and Mammoth Spring school districts, as well as Izard County Consolidated School District and Cherokee Elementary School in the Highland School District. Some of the children had never had a haircut by a professional stylist.
In addition to Amanda Hall, stylists volunteering at the event included Amanda Brown of Shear Passion Studio located inside Church Street Boutique in Salem, Maggie Shelton of The Hair Hut in Salem and Tia York of Hair Kreations in Salem. Fifteen years after hanging up his barber’s clippers, Ross Carter of Farm Bureau Insurance in Salem and Melbourne joined the group to provide fresh fades for the young men and boys.
Salem High School Beta Club members painted fingernails and assisted with check-in and clean-up. Beta Club volunteers included Alli Smith, Ally Tanner, Rose Keen, Emma Summerhill, Hannah Dailey, Maddie Keen and Olivia Dockins.
Ava Hall and Lily Brown added hair tinsel, or “fairy hair,” for the girls who requested the accessory.
Salem United Methodist Church served as host location for the event, which drew more than 60 children and parents. The stylists completed a total of 40 cuts in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Dr. Tom Benton of the Salem United Methodist Church greeted the families and gave a tour of the sanctuary. Salem United Methodist Church is one of the oldest congregations in Fulton County. The present church building is 98 years old.
Dr. Benton said one of the children who toured the sanctuary told him she had always seen the church from the outside but had never been inside. She told Dr. Benton she thought it was beautiful.
Besides the Salem event, volunteers from all across the Spring River region have showed up and showed out over the last few weeks in a cumulative effort to get children back to school while saving parents money.
From a Stuff the Bus at the Ash Flat Walmart to Highland’s Annual Backpack Extravaganza being held Aug. 5 a the Highland Assembly of God, volunteers across the region stepped up and helped.
A Back to School Fun Bash will be held Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cave City High School Gymnasium. The event is sponsored by the Cave City Kiwanis Club.
There will be free backpacks with all required grade level school supplies, certificates for free haircuts and shoes. There will be a bounce house, mini snow cones, hot dogs and face painting for the children. Registration is required for the event. The form is available onthe Cave City School Distrit and Jill Pettersen Carr’s Facebook page.