By Staff
Melissa Cason
Renee Reed spent many hours growing up watching as her parents cut hair together inside an old-fashioned barbershop in downtown Russellville.
She knew the customers, the business and all that it entailed.
But when she decided to follow in their footsteps, her parents, James and Ruby McCullar, questioned her decision.
"I remember my dad asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this because of the long hours that barbers keep," said Reed, who joined her parents as a barber at McCullar and Reed Barber Shop in 1984.
"My parents made me want to become a barber," she said. "They always enjoyed what they did, so I decided that's what I wanted to do too."
The McCullars have been staples of downtown Russellville for years.
James McCullar has worked on the same Washington Avenue block since 1961, only to be a few yards from his old shop when he moved then.
"When I started, downtown Russellville was a thriving community," McCullar remembered.
In 1977, his wife, Ruby, began working alongside him.
Ruby McCullar said she went to work so that she would have something to do after her children started school.
"My kids went to school and I wanted something to do besides working at fast food or at the dollar store so I decided to go to barber school," Ruby said.
Together, the couple passed a love and appreciation for the business to their daughter.
Reed said she and her parents have been blessed in their careers and really enjoy providing haircuts for the community.
She remembers her father getting up in time to be at the shop around 5 a.m. so he could give customers haircuts before they had to be at work.
Cars still line the road outside the shop early each Saturday morning.
"He has done that forever," Reed said. "But, he has really enjoyed going in early."
McCullar said that there is usually a small crowd at the shop when he opens the doors that early.
"I've had as many as seven customers waiting on me to open up," McCullar said.
In addition to his wife and daughter, the shop has another employee, Belinda Kirkpatrick, who has worked there for 16 years.
The state Senate recently issued a proclamation honoring James McCullar for his near half-century old business.
"They gave me a proclamation for barbering for 46 years," he said laughingly.
The proclamation is currently being framed so that it can be displayed at his shop high on the hill in downtown Russellville.