"The True King of the Strip" - Time Out #173

Sometimes it is difficult to write about a legend.

Not difficult when that legend is a dear, dear friend during the past 60-plus years. This is someone I have seen routinely every several weeks since the late 1950's. No, we don't drink coffee together.

He simply gives me a nice haircut.

That special person would be Bud the barber, aka Nathan Payne, owner of legendary Bud's Barber Shop on Our Town's historic Strip, South Washington Street.

Wow, Bud is truly an American icon we have been very fortunate to have lived in our special community for a long, long time.

From his perch in the middle of the college student action spot, he has seen it all--streaking (i.e, nude running!), a bazillion folks wandering up and down the famous area where his shop is located, most with adult drinks in their possession, and vast numbers of vehicles, merely cruising back and forth down the popular street, simply to be seen by the "in crowd". Bud, the honorary mayor of the area, has presided over all these activities and much more for what seems like forever!

To say he is a unique character, of course, is a huge understatement.

All you have to do is walk thru his door, with the numbers 324 faded on it, and you absolutely enter into a different dimension, as the old black and white television show "Twilight Zone" frequently stated.

If the Smithsonian museum folks were to designate a brick and mortar building as a national shrine of "stuff", it definitely would be the entire contents of Bud's Barber Shop. Ripley's Believe It or Not Museums have nothing that can't also be found under Bud's roof. Old black and white photos and posters, taped, thumb-tacked, nailed, or simply just leaning against something else are EVERYWHERE inside! And, please don't trip over the various animal skulls scattered around between the radios, televisions, old containers of various hair products, or numerous gifts the public/customers have brought into the shop to give Bud for the past 60 years.

However, the BIGGEST thrill to visiting this legendary local spot is the chance to get to go head-to-head (no barber pun intended!) in conversation with Mr. Bud. Pick a topic, any topic, and there is an excellent chance he will have an opinion on the subject. The most common, of course, are local athletics, politics at any level, or his special area of expertise, horses and anything connected with a rodeo. He has been a regular rodeo participant over the years in venues all over our great country, including the last few years during his senior time of life. Cattle and oil are also topics he is quite knowledgeable about, since his entire life he has thrived in Our State, either in the far eastern Sallisaw area, or on his acreage home southeast of Our Town, along with his numerous livestock collection.

If you want to sit in his barbering chair and tell him your thoughts, he is definitely a good listener, too. It's almost a job requirement for barbers and bar tenders to be great listeners to their captive audiences, and Mr. Bud certainly meets that good listening obligation. He will also give you his opinion on your dilemma, if requested. Don't ask, though, unless you want him to tell you his honest answer, because it might hurt your feelings?

My bride, Debbie, and I had him give our youngest child, Robbie, now 35, his first real haircut back in the mid-1980's. This began their long friendship, too, which continues today. Even Robbie's older brother, Allan, 42, who lives in Juneau, Alaska, had Bud cut his hair as Allan grew up in Our Town, long ago. Both our men frequently ask us about how Bud is doing, and I regularly tell him about our family's guys. Bud seems like part of our extended family.

Barbers are usually members of people's inner circle of friends, because of the very close relationship they form with you as you sit in their chair, year after year after year.

Bud is certainly special to me, but I totally realize I share that high regard for him along with countless other people over many decades in Our Town. Bud, you are the absolute best. Thank you!