Thirty years ago, Southfield-Lathrup High School’s boys basketball team broke the hearts of Pershing Doughboys across Detroit, when Lathrup, led by Greg Grays and Mike Chappell registered a thrilling 67-65 home court victory in a Class A regional final against a No. 1 ranked Pershing team featuring the late Winfred Walton, winner of the 1996 Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award.
That Lathrup team would “Charge” all the way to the Class A championship game at the Breslin Center in East Lansing before losing to Saginaw, 67-60, on March 23, 1996.
The flashback is an example of the rich local sports history and stories that are regularly served up by a host of people at The Village Beauty And Barber Salon in Detroit, including Wayne Washington II, a 1998
graduate of Southfield-Lathrup. The 46-year-old Washington also is regularly reminded of Pershing through an old newspaper clipping that he keeps near his barber chair that honors a dear friend of Washington's father, the late Johnny Goston, who coached Pershing from 1984 through 1999, while winning two Class A state championships (1992 and 1993) in the process.
However, during the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 24, the engaging sports conversations that are a staple at the shop that Washington and his business partner Clinton Childs have operated at 8347 East Jefferson Avenue since 2019, were for the most part put on the back burner.
Instead, Detroit youths were the stars of the day during The Village's first "Back To School Giveaway." From noon until 4 p.m., students ranging from elementary through high school, along with their parents and other caring adults, filed into the shop and were invited to grab a free backpack loaded with school supplies and other life essentials, including toothbrushes and toothpaste.
A year after hosting a Detroit mayoral candidate "Meet & Greet" event that several candidates participated in before the August primary, including Detroit's now-history making mayor, Mary Sheffield, Washington said The Village, as a neighborhood community institution in its fifth year, wanted to turn its attention to the city's "most precious resource" at a critical time of the year.
“As a Detroit barbershop and salon, we feel a responsibility to be a pillar in our community and this event is helping us to get further cemented and embedded in the neighborhood and to let people know that we're here to serve our community," said Washington, who added a fun element to the event, through a gaming truck providing free games for all attendees.
The gaming truck was stationed in a parking lot adjacent to the shop next to a food truck that loaded up the kids with free food.
Washington continued: "I hope every young person that comes through knows that people here care about them and that this is a place where they can feel comfortable. And with that, I hope they can begin this school year with confidence that will carry them through the entire year.
“Everything starts with confidence. A new bookbag is one of those small things that really matters, and it can build a kids whole personality and make someone’s year."
At one point during the afternoon, Washington joked that he hoped the games in the truck would help the kids get some of their excess energy out so that they would arrive for the first day at their respective schools — including Durfee Elementary-Middle School, Pulaski Elementary-Middle School, Levey Middle School and more — in a calmer state.
But when it came to how Washington and everyone who helped him with the event viewed the importance of the day, there was no denying the sincerity and commitment that was on display.
For example, the free games and food — provided by Picture Me Gaming & More and We Got Wings Detroit — were made possible through Washington's ability to reach out to fellow local entrepreneurs that share his community vision. Representatives from WGPR's HOT 107.5 FM, headquartered roughly two miles west of The Village on E. Jefferson Avenue all came out to show their support.
Then there was Shyvonne McCain, a cosmetologist at The Village, who has worked with Washington for more than 20 years.
"We always try to do things for the community because if not for the community, we wouldn't be able to do what we do," said McCain, a 1988 graduate of Detroit's Chadsey High School, who like Childs, came over to The Village with Washington from the former Alta Moda Salon that was located at Gratiot and St. Aubin on the edge of the Eastern Market district, where she said the trio received an exemplary community mentorship from the salon's celebrated late owner Alonzo Palmer.
"With this event, we started out just wanting to provide school supplies," she said. "But when we reached out to our customers, they responded with book bags and things like that, so this blew up to be even more than we expected.
"I'm grateful for what we were able to do because we need the babies to be able to get an education so that they can take care of us when we get older because they are our future. And I'm also proud of that young man (Wayne Washington). He's come a long way and he has a long way to go, and he's going to take his community with him."
Not long after McCain's statement, The Village received a visit from a gentleman who looked like he could go without a haircut for a little while. And as a 1972 graduate of Detroit's Kettering High School who continued his education at the University of Michigan, John Smith probably no longer needs a school backpack either.
However, Smith said he stopped by the shop because he wanted to see firsthand the difference his friend's neighborhood business can make in a community beyond normal business hours.
"I was sitting in Wayne's chair (for a haircut) and he was talking about how he wanted to give back and I thought it was definitely a worthwhile cause," said Smith, who described how he gladly took out his wallet and made a cash donation to support the event after discovering that he did not have enough time to buy and drop off school supplies in advance of the activity.
"We have so many organizations that do things like this, but never at the grassroots level and never in the community," he said. "This is purely personal and purely The Village barbershop. And what we have here is a small entrepreneur who wants to give something back to the community, back to the kids, and make an impact in the community."
While making his own authentic impact to his community, Washington says he also is building on some family traditions. His grandfather on his mother's side, Edward Bell, was a barber who approached cutting hair in an artistic way that resonated with his grandson at a young man.
There also is a tradition of educators in Washington's family, beginning with his grandmothers and aunts, and also continued by his father, who like Johnny Golston was a longtime educator and counselor in the Detroit Public School system, with Washington's father's career taking place mostly at Cass Technical High School.
Add all of those factors up, and the "Back To School Giveaway" at The Village was a natural event for Wayne Washington II to envision and successfully execute.
“You know what, this is what I always wanted to do — give back and have a purpose,” said Washington, who was joined at the event by his wife Mara Washington and children London Washington, Layla Washington, Lennox Washington and Romar Hill.
“I don’t want to look back and say what I should have or could have done, when the opportunity is now. That’s my motivation — that’s my drive and it’s something we all need to do more.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: At this Detroit salon, community service extends beyond hair care
