Scottie's Cut & Color...and Caring

The team at Scottie's Cut & Color Specialists: Melissa Yager, Susan Gladney, Lisa Hawkins, Tony Smith and Pam Shinosky.

It’s getting close to Christmas, so for many people, including me, that means getting a haircut to look and feel our best for the holiday season.

I’ve been getting my haircut at Scottie’s since I moved away from Millington and was living in Washington, D.C., more than 20 years ago now. When I would come home on holidays to visit, my dad would take me to Scottie’s because that’s where he would get his haircut.

Being a career military man, my dad was particular about his haircut and his appearance. While he had many different jobs in the U.S. Army, I think he was proud of having been a recruiter, where he was always required to look sharp. His barber at Scottie’s was Barry Laxton, who retired several years ago.

Toward the end of his life, my dad spent seven months under the care of hospice at home, with me as his caregiver. He wanted a haircut badly, but couldn’t get out of bed. So, I called Scottie’s and Barry came to our home. Barry was not a small man, but I watched him climb up on my dad’s full-size bed and give him a haircut. It was one of the most extraordinary acts of caring and kindness I have been privileged to witness. My dad was happy, and he felt better. Barry gave my dad his last haircut and refused to accept payment.

The folks at Scottie’s, especially my stylist Lisa, continue to take care of me, too. It’s a level of customer service and caring that I doubt folks in Washington, D.C. would be able to find, but in Millington, it’s business as usual.

Scottie’s, a local, independent, small business has been a part of the Millington community for more than 60 years.

Scottie’s, founded by barber Scottie Gladney has been in business since 1957. For many years, the shop was located in the retail center on Navy Road. Scottie’s moved to its current location at 8370 Highway 51 N., in Patriot Plaza 15 years ago.

The team of stylists includes Susan Gladney (Scottie’s daughter-in-law), Lisa Hawkins, Pam Shinosky and Tony Smith, who together have more than 125 years of experience. They were all rigorously trained by Scottie, often staying after hours in the shop until late in the evening. He had high standards and specific ways he wanted things done. Pam says, “Scottie always said, ‘You’re only as good as your worst haircutter,’ and none of us are that. We’ve all been trained by Scottie, but we all have our own style, everybody’s good.”

And, for the more than 20 years that I have been a customer, at turns Scottie, his stepson Michael Easter, Pam and Lisa have all cut my hair, and I have never had a bad haircut there. It’s true. They are all good!

The four stylists became business partners nearly seven years ago, taking the shop over from Scottie. “We work well together, we’re a family and a team,” Lisa comments. The team also includes “magic fingers" Melissa Yager, who will give you a wonderful, relaxing massage while she shampoos your hair.

Scottie’s doesn’t take appointments.  Pam explains, customers are first-come, first served, going back to the early days when Scottie began as a barber, as barbers rarely take appointments. Over time, walk-in salons became trendy and the shop used beepers to let their customers know their stylist was ready for them. Today, cell phones work well.  However, Pam says, “We know our system doesn’t work for everyone.”

Tony says many people travel as far as a 100-mile radius to come to the shop, and there also are many customers who (like this writer, did) come to Scottie’s when they are in town visiting family and friends. I have a friend who travels the world with the U.S. State Department. When she comes back to Millington, she always goes to Scottie’s to have Tony cut her hair. Pam notes, there also are many military families who come back to Scottie’s after being stationed elsewhere. “We take pride in that,” she says.

With 40 years, Tony is the member of the team of stylists who has been at Scottie’s the longest.

Recently, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving there were 25 people lined up in front of the shop before it opened it doors.

Customer Susan Chambers, originally from the Missouri Bootheel, has been coming to Scottie’s since 2002. She says her mother always insisted on getting her hair done at Scottie’s on her way home from the hospital.

Prices range from $26 for a men’s haircut and style to $36 for a ladies haircut, a ladies cut, color and style is $83, and ladies highlights with cut and style range from $100 and up. Through December 31st at noon, Scottie’s is currently offering 20 percent off on their complete line of styling products, which includes brands like Matrix, Paul Mitchell, Rusk and much more.

Lisa says, “We love what we do. We want our shop to be a loving shop. We want you to sit in our chair and listen to your heart. We treat everybody with loving care. It’s more than just doing hair.”

Scottie’s is located at 8370 Highway 51 N., Suite 109. Shop hours are Tuesday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday & Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call (901) 873-HAIR (4247) for more information.

Thanksgiving: Family, Sharing & Gratefulness

Today, the congregation of St. William Catholic Church along with volunteers throughout our community will prepare and deliver more than 600 hot, cooked Thanksgiving meals to neighbors in need in Millington, North Memphis and Tipton County.

Just a bit of trivia to start with: The first Thanksgiving in America was celebrated between the Pilgrims and Native Americans in October of 1621, marking the Pilgrims first harvest. The first official U.S. “Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer” was declared by President George Washington on November 26,1789, and it was Abraham Lincoln who declared Thanksgiving Day a federal holiday in the midst of the Civil War in 1863.

Family, Sharing and Gratefulness

For most folks, particularly here in the South, where there are many amazing Southern cooks, Thanksgiving means a great meal, with my apologies to my friends on the East Coast who are devotees of oyster stuffing and my vegan friends who ascribe to tofu turkey…just no.

My mom, who was Japanese, learned to prepare a Thanksgiving meal from my many Southern aunts who are wonderful cooks. Today, more than a decade since my mamaw passed away, a Cooper Thanksgiving is celebrated at the Cooper cabin, a huge kitchen, built by my uncle Dale solely for the purpose of my large and extended family to share meals together. Our Thanksgiving is a quintessentially Southern one, with both turkey and ham, cornbread dressing (made in a pan, not stuffed inside the bird) and all the trimmings. Last year, maybe because my great-grandmother was Irish, I counted no less than six different dishes of potatoes, as well as macaroni and cheese, green beans (cooked with pork), and much more, along with desserts too numerous to count.

For several years before my mom passed away, my immediate, small family of three went to Thanksgiving dinner at The Helmsman Club on the Navy base. My dad enjoyed it because we always saw and visited with friends and neighbors there, and my mom enjoyed it, too, because she didn’t have to cook or clean up. The last picture I have of us together as a family is at Thanksgiving dinner there.

And, it’s where I will be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner this year, with my best friend and her family. Her mom is Japanese, too, and at 86, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. She wanted to have Thanksgiving at The Helmsman, and made a point to ask me to come along, At its heart, to me, Thanksgiving is about family, sharing and gratefulness. My best friend and I have known each other since we were children. We are only-children, and share Japanese moms and Southern, military dads, as the major common threads in our lives. She and her family are my family, too. We are so much more than friends, more like sisters, really. And for this, I am eternally grateful.

Feeding Our Neighbors

Continuing on the theme of sharing...While most businesses and churches are closed on Thanksgiving Day, St. William Catholic Church located on Easley Street is a busy place. Beginning at around 5:30 a.m. the kitchen in its Family Life Center is filled with provisions and volunteers preparing to cook and transport no less than 600 Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins and families in need in Millington, North Memphis and Tipton County, according to parishioner Bob Allen who spearheads the logistics of this effort, having taken over several years ago from church members Ruth Ann Olson and Jack & Gloria Sparks

The congregation has been offering this ministry of food and fellowship to neighbors in our city and the surrounding area for some 35 years. Allen stresses the key role Wendy Strevel plays, whom he calls “the kitchen queen,” overseeing the cooking of the meals. “She has a real passion for this.” He also notes the church’s Knights of Columbus and women’s club are very actively involved in this effort.plays, whom he calls “the kitchen queen,” overseeing the cooking of the meals. “She has a real passion for this.” He also notes the church’s Knights of Columbus and women’s club are very actively involved in this effort.

Similar to the “Meals on Wheels” program conducted by the Metropolitan Interfaith Association (MIFA), hot, cooked meals are hand-delivered. Allen is in charge of recruiting the approximately 20 drivers needed and mapping the routes.

Some 250 of the 600 meals prepared are delivered to and distributed by the nuns of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity who run a shelter for women and children and minister to neighborhoods in North Memphis.

The menu includes turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, a roll and dessert.

But Allen says, it’s much more than a meal. For many folks, the human contact and connection is just as important, if not more. He urges the volunteer drivers not just to drop-off the meals, but to take the opportunity to visit with folks, especially the shut-ins, who may not see visitors often.

“We have the skills, capability and means, and we’re driven by faith. It’s a labor of love and fun. I’m honored to be a part of it. I do so little. Everyone else works a lot harder. It’s a marvelous project,” Allen says.

He stresses this is an ecumenical and community-wide effort, with volunteers from other churches including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and First United Methodist Church, and companies such as Ingram-Micro and other individuals donating funds and their time as well. This morning, the MCHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes played a key role helping to peel and slice some 300 pounds of potatoes.

Strevel says she has been participating in this ministry since she was in the church youth group. As a teacher and administrator with Millington Municipal Schools she sees many low-income, working families struggling to make ends meet.

“This is one day out of the year we can come together and help someone.” She adds, “This is what community is about, pitching in and helping out, and we’ve expanded and continue to reach out.”

She stresses, “This is not just a ministry of the Catholic church. This is what Jesus has called us to do.”

St. William Catholic Church is located at 4932 Easley Street. For additional information, visit the church’s website at www.stwilliamcc.org or call (901) 872-4099.

Check it Out, The Library is Changing

I've loved books and libraries since I was a little girl. Here's one of my favorite books I remember checking out from the library at Millington South Elementary School. The Millington Public Library has a wealth of programs, events, activities and services available for free to the residents of our community, and lots of books, too.

A Love Letter to Libraries

I’ve loved books since I was a little girl, and I suppose by extension, libraries, too. As a student at both Millington South Elementary and Millington Middle School, I remember helping the librarians shelve books. My favorites were little, red, hardbound books known as the Childhood of Famous Americans series. I believe I read every one of them. My favorite was the biography of Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. So, I guess it was only natural that a few years later I would spend a summer during high school as an American Red Cross candy striper at the hospital on the Navy base in Millington.

My mom was an avid reader, so I like to think I inherited my love of books from her. When I lived in Washington, D.C., she would visit often, and of all the historic places to see and tour there, her favorite was the Library of Congress. It’s a beautiful Beaux-Arts style building with a classical exterior, and interior filled with frescoes, stained glass windows and of course…books, including a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed using mass-produced moveable type in 1455.

The Millington Public Library

Our own Millington library built in 1957 may not be quite as fancy, but it’s a busy place, filled not just with books, but also with a wealth of programs, activities and services for residents in our community of all ages.

Librarian Stephanie Kinsler has been the library’s director for about a year and a half. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, she has served as a librarian primarily in academic settings including at the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee medical library.

After being a librarian in academia, Kinsler says she was ready for a change. As a librarian in a community setting she believes she’s on the front lines of service. “I feel I’m helping people in a more meaningful way.” She adds, "I don’t think it’s any secret that this is a socioeconomically challenged community here. A lot of patience is involved helping patrons…computer users. But, you can make an impact on someone’s life in their time of need, helping them apply for jobs or helping them get information on matters that are important to them.” The library has 13 computers on-site for patrons to use.

Along with her master’s degree in library science, Kinsler also has a degree in English education and stresses the importance of “helping children learn that books and reading are fun things.” Among her own favorite books are Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Robert Penn Warren’s “All the Kings Men,” Laura Hillenbrand’s “Seabiscuit” and more recently David Pinks’ “A Whole New Mind.”

She notes that with societal changes it can sometimes be difficult to balance the needs of the library’s older patrons, women and men age 50 and older, and children. ”I’m trying to build a better rapport with teens,” who typically visit the library after school. “It can be a challenge to make both of these groups happy.” The library hosts a Teen Card Club on Monday afternoons from 2:30-4 p.m., as well as an After-School Game Day, a Teen Movie afternoon and a Teen Breakfast Cooking Class.

Kinsler has instituted a variety of other activities including gardening programs, embroidery classes and a ukulele jam session, in addition to book signings, family research, a family movie night, resume building, craft days, and of course the children’s story time.

She views the library as the center of the community, or meeting place where groups can gather to discuss ideas.

For children in particular, she points out the way students learn has changed. Children now learn in teams, and she sees the need for a space like the library for students to discuss projects through collaborative learning...learning how to work with each other, being carried over into the library environment.

“People have their heads in their phones or computers, taking in information and not talking to each other. It’s definitely addictive and not healthy,” especially for teens. She sees the library as a place with a new purpose and value to society in helping people hone their communications skills. She says employers are placing a high value on “soft skills,” the ability for people to talk and communicate well, and shake hands. “We are ok with quiet talking.”

“The library is changing,” Kinsler says.

Many people now read on electronic devices. She urges those readers to definitely come get a library card. Library cards are free for residents living in the 38053 zip code, and $35 annually for persons living outside the 38053 zip code.

With a library card and the new Libby app, those reading on electronic devices can have access to more than 100,000 books through the Tennessee READS Regional eBook & Audiobook Download System. There is a 14-day loan policy, with the digital book returned automatically.

“We’re upping our game with the quality of our programs,” Kinsler says, “in particular for people with children through our summer reading program.” She stresses, “You should do this for your kids, it’s fun for them, and it’s fun learning." She explains, children of all ages can suffer from the “summer slide" when their reading aptitude can drop while children are out of school. She encourages parents to participate with them, reading with their children. In addition to reading, “we have tons of free stuff, food and entertainment,” she notes.

For older folks Kinsler comments, we’re adding more mysteries, thrillers and suspense novels to our collection as well as more westerns, Christian fiction and romance.

“A library is now more important than ever,” Kinsler says. “It’s a myth that Google has negated the purpose of a library. Google exists because of advertising. Books cost money for a reason. It’s a creative work, as well as credible information that you need. The most completely reliable source is still a book. There’s no better resource in my opinion. There’s a lot of garbage out there and a lot of people don’t know the difference. Libraries offer a broad range of services and access to information.”

There are lots of readers here in Millington. The library averages 150-200 people coming through its doors daily, with 47,000 visits annually and more than 37,000 books circulated. And, Kinsler happily reports this year’s Summer Reading Program saw an increase of 550 more books read.

Kinsler says, “We’re here to help, filling a social need. It’s fun work. I feel like I’m in the perfect place at the perfect time. I feel lucky.”

The Millington Public Library located at 4858 Navy Road is open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday & Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed on Sundays. A library card is free for those living within the 38053 zip code and $35 annually for those living outside the 38053 zip code. For more information about the library’s many programs, events and services visit them on the Web at www.millingtonpubliclibrary.org on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MillingtonPublicLibrary/ or call (901) 872-1585.

BBB...Wary of Scams, Spoofing & Identity Theft

Last week, the United Methodist Women of Millington First United Methodist Church held their annual fall luncheon, which featured this yummy box lunch of chicken salad on a croissant, broccoli salad, chips and a brownie catered by Lisa Field. Contact Ms. Field at (901) 605-6125 if you're planning a lunch or dinner event.

Over the past few years, I've learned if you attend church in Millington or have friends who attend church, you'll find you stay busy going to all sorts of events and activities sponsored by our community's many churches, from breakfasts, lunches and dinners to fundraising auctions, craft fairs, day trips..and much more, along with lots of opportunities to lend a hand to those in need in our area through a broad range of outreach ministries.

Last week, I attended the United Methodist Women's annual fall luncheon at Millington First United Methodist Church where Nancy Crawford, director of marketing and communications for the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of the Mid-South was the guest speaker. She presented an informative program on scams and identity theft. I thought I would share some of what I gleaned from her presentation here in this space, as I feel there may be lots of folks who could benefit from the information she provided.

First off, here are a few statistics...Some 26 million Americans "reported" being victims of scams last year. Crawford believes the number is actually much higher as this number reflects only those who reported being scammed. Last year, 16 million people in the U.S. were victims of identity theft. It is the fastest growing crime in this country. In 2017, 1,600 data breaches where reported. In 2018, the number of data breaches decreased to 1,200 but the number of records exposed increased by 126 percent.

"Your personal information is worth more than the money in your bank," Crawford said.

Crawford noted senior citizens and young military families with a steady income who may be far away from family members to provide advice, are key targets for scammers. And while it's assumed senior citizens are most often the victims of scams, young adults who are constantly connected to technology and their electronic devices, are oftentimes quick to respond to texts, emails and cell phone calls before realizing they have been scammed.

To protect yourself from scams, Crawford counseled to beware of these sales tricks or pitches:

- Phantom riches or get-rich-quick investments. (Men 65 and older are most often the victims of this scam.)

- Scarcity, when there are only a few items left or a short amount of time in which to purchase.

- Authority, when an item is being advertised or pitched by a celebrity.

- Reciprocity, invitations to lunches or dinners to listen to a presentation about a product or service. Remember you are under no obligation to buy.

She also stressed to use common sense, seek advice from professionals and DO NOT give out your personal information.

Crawford also addressed spoofing -- all those phone calls from what look like local numbers or close to your own. Ninety percent of those calls are not coming from the numbers listed. Use your voicemail to screen calls from numbers you don’t recognize, and use the block function on your cell phone as well.

In response to robo-caller “Rachel, from credit card services," the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) awarded a $25,000 grant/prize to two companies that created cell phone apps to solve the robo-call problem. One of those apps is Nomorobo, recommended by Crawford. There are now several apps to choose from. Crawford said to check costs, permissions and reviews before downloading. 

Because of spoofing the "Do Not Call List" doesn't work, and the FTC removes 20,000 new reported phone numbers each day. She noted that spoofing is actually legal in specific instances involving persons fleeing from domestic violence situations, but illegal when used to commit fraud.

To protect your credit, Crawford advised letting your credit card company know when you are traveling. If you use mobile apps for banking, you can set those apps to alert you each time a credit card purchase is made. She also recommended checking your credit report. Free credit reports are available from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion at annualcreditreport.com. If you don't anticipate making a major purchase such as a new car or home for a while, you can also request a credit freeze from the FTC, so no one can access your credit information. It's free, too.

Crawford also warned people to cover their hands when entering their pin numbers at ATMs and to check for skimmers (devices that can record your credit card information) at ATMs, gas stations and other places that accept credit cards, by pulling on the device where the card is inserted before using it.

"Exercise your rights and responsibilities as a consumer," Crawford stressed.

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The Better Business Bureau is a more than 100-year-old nonprofit organization that provides information about a company before you do business with it, and helps to resolve a dispute if you have a complaint. There are more than 100 BBB's in North America. The Better Business Bureau of the Mid South covers 21 counties in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. For more information contact the Better Business Bureau of the Mid South at (901) 759-1300 or email: info@bbbmidsouth.org.