HOPE & RESILIENCE ›› strong
an exciting, new, fresh salon. But renovation meant that I had to vacate the premises during renovation. Fortunately for me, the hairdressers in Lewisburg are generally a compatible, not competitive, group. Most of our area salons are small, though, and my associate stylist Vicki Holcomb and I needed two chairs in the same salon. As I had learned in the past when trying to find solutions to difficult situations, I went into the back room at the Upper Cut and prayed about it. Again, God worked in mysterious ways. By the end of the day, I had a lead on another salon that just happened to have two chairs for rent! That very weekend, Vicki and I moved in with Dyan Hefner at Lady Dye’s Modern House of Beauty. Renovation, as usual, took 10 months instead of the predicted two months. During our time with the stylists at Lady Dye’s, we gained wonderful, thoughtful, lifelong friends. And our new salon is fabulous! We moved into the new space. Jennifer Williams joined us, making three of us at The Upper Cut. We were getting things in shape. The renovated salon was squeaky clean and easy to keep totally sanitary. Customers complimented the new space. And then the pandemic hit. We had to close at midnight on March 19. My routine changed. I was there for calving season with our family farm. I had more time with my sons and my husband. I enjoyed experimenting—sometimes successfully— with new recipes. And I had more time for my first love of drawing and painting. Seven weeks later, we have approval to open under new circumstances. We are following every condition in the State of West Virginia Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists COVID-19 Update: Guidelines and Returning to Work Checklist for Salons and Shops. This three-page checklist covers requirements for personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, consumer interactions, distancing, and ongoing safety considerations. I have posted these on my Facebook page and in the shop window. We have always kept a clean salon, but the new safety measures will take more time between clients. As I write this, we hope to open on Monday, May 4. We will provide the same excellent service, but it will be different. With all of us wearing masks, our usual spirited conversations will be muffled. We will be so glad to see each other again! My wonderfully caring clients will surely be patient with helping us all stay safe. And well-styled!
TERRI SMITH SHUCK W LEWISBURG, GREENBRIER COUNTY Re-Opening, Interrupted The Upper Cut Salon moves into renovated space—only to close for COVID-19.
share ongoing stories about our families, our concerns, our hopes and dreams. We become friends. I own The Upper Cut Salon on Stratton Alley in Lewisburg. “Upper Cut” may seem odd for a street-level salon. I began up a very long flight of stairs over what was then Coleman’s Pharmacy, now Aggie’s Gift Shop. The name followed me to Stratton Alley. Last summer, a new owner decided to renovate the buildings that included my shop. Those renovation plans would give me
artwas my favorite subject at Greenbrier West High School. My mother thought I would enjoy the creative process and the people aspect of working with hair so, immediately after graduating from high school in 1979, I enrolled in beauty school. “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life” describes my 40 years as a hair stylist. I love the independence that it offers. I love my clients. I love helping them figure out what they want and helping them feel good about themselves. We
36 wvl • the community issue 2020
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