William Gayle, better known as Bo, has been cutting hair for about 56 years and his barbershop is a Morrisburg institution. Tinkess Photo

MORRISBURG – If you asked someone from Morrisburg if they knew William Gayle, you might not get much of a response. If you asked, however, if they knew Bo the barber, you would have a difficult time finding someone who didn’t know who you were talking about. When you’ve been a part of the fabric of the community for as long as Bo has, people tend to know who you are.

Bo recently celebrated his 74th birthday, and for much of his adult life he has been making a living cutting hair. “Well, I’m in my, let’s see. I’m in my 56th year,” said Bo.

“I got my training, back at Algonquin College. I was there for six months, and then I come out, and I had apprenticeship for two and a half years, through the government.

“I had to do an apprenticeship for two and a half years, but then I got my license. And that was in September 1970.”

While long established in Morrisburg now, Bo moved around quite a bit as he perfected his trade. He says he worked for a year in Cornwall for Larry McPhail at his barbershop near First St. and Pitt. He was there for a year, then moved to Ottawa and worked there for a while before opening his own shop in Ingleside, in the Ingleside Plaza.

He stayed there till New Year’s Eve of 1974, before bouncing from Morrisburg to Renfrew (to see his girlfriend, who would later become his wife), then back to Ottawa for three years before returning to Morrisburg in 1978 to work in his Uncle Red Cook’s barbershop. When his uncle started having health issues, he took over and kept working in that shop until his current storefront became available, and he has been there ever since.

When asked if he has any idea  how many haircuts he may have done in his career, Bo chuckles. “Oh, Jesus, everybody asks me that, but I wouldn’t have a clue!” He has gone through all the fashions though and still has a wash station from the days when the young and hip would come in to get a wash and style. Today it’s more just regular cuts and trims for the long list of regulars who stop in for a chat even if they don’t need a haircut.

An avid golfer and a loyal Toronto Maple Leaf’s fan, Bo says he doesn’t know exactly how long he will keep cutting hair. “I don’t know,” he said.  “I tell everybody it’s going to be till I get some serious health issues, as long as I can stand up, I can cut hair, but if I can’t do that, well, then it’ll be over. But, you know, I don’t feel too bad.”

If he didn’t realize how important he was before the Pandemic, Bo certainly figured it out afterwards. “They shut me down three times,” he said, and was amazed by the long lines waiting out front of his shop when he reopened. “Ten or fifteen out there all the time, waiting there for the better part of two days. Wow, that was busy!”

In many ways it seems that it is the social aspect of his business that keeps him going as much as anything. That, and having a routine, some place that you have to be that keeps the days from running together.

“I meet people, see people, talk to people every day,” said Bo. “I got somebody to talk to every day, a routine to follow. That’s one thing, maybe one reason why I don’t quit. Maybe, I just, I got that funny feeling, because once I quit…”

For men of a certain age, a haircut is probably more about maintenance than style, but that doesn’t mean the person who cuts your hair matters any less. Stopping by Bo’s every couple weeks is a part of life in Morrisburg, and when the day comes when he lays his scissors down for the last time, it will not go unnoticed.

 

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