STEPHEN RICCIO
SHAWVILLE July 29, 2020
Bernie’s Barbershop closed its doors in early June, wrapping up a successful 52 years in business for owner and barber Bernie MacDonell.
After taking over from Bill Fletcher in 1982, MacDonell said it was finally time to call it quits with . . .
the pandemic throwing a wrench in barbershop procedures.
“Just because the pandemic I guess, it was about time I retired,” said the 76-year old. “It’s a lot different, you have to clean everything up after you’re done and at my age, ya never know.”
MacDonell was born in Bryson, and he started working with Fletcher in 1968.
As it is typically a solitary trade, he bought the business from Fletcher and continued as the sole barber.
“Oh just an ordinary barber shop really,” he said humbly, when asked about the shop itself.
MacDonell would see many regulars and walk-ins, as patrons would come from all over the surrounding areas of Shawville. He was never the most talkative guy, but he loved meeting the people who came in to have their hair cut.
Having been around throughout seven different decades, he has experienced waves of change in practices and tools.
He still holds onto some of the old versions of hair products that he would have used. Not because they were superior though, he explained, as he certainly saw an evolution of hair products over time, but for sentimental reasons.
Ask him how he is now, and he won’t complain.
“Good good, really good. Just [doing] odds and end jobs around the house, visiting a few people,” he said. “A lot of people are gonna miss me but that’s the way it goes eh.”
