HIGHTSTOWN: Local barber has trimmed hair for 44 years

By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN – Walt Huzzy makes a habit of standing by the front door to his barbershop when things slow down. A hand in one pocket and the other stretched out along the doorframe, he’ll watch the occasional passersby as cars meander up and down Main Street.
   Sometimes, he’ll pick up his book, which is usually perched on one of the empty barber chairs while he’s taking care of customers or peering outside.
   The owner and namesake behind Walt’s Hair Cutting doesn’t mind the idle time all that much.
   ”I’ve slowed down, but I’m as busy as I want to be,” Mr. Huzzy said about 15 minutes after finishing a trim for one of his regular customers.
   It hasn’t always been this slow—or rather, easy—for Mr. Huzzy, but he says he enjoyed the last 44 years he’s spent at the downtown barbershop.
   Before he became owner, Mr. Huzzy was an employee at the shop.
   And at 64, he says he’s “doing well.” Further, he says he runs the barber shop simply for pleasure, rather than the need for the business.
   ”I really enjoy doing it. I don’t have to do it anymore, but I want to,” Mr. Huzzy said.
   Downtown Hightstown Co-Chairwoman Amanda Porter said Walt’s barber shop, at 44 years, is “probably one of the oldest” businesses in Hightstown, even though a nearby insurance company is coming up on its 125th year in business.”
   Mr. Huzzy said he started cutting hair when he was 19. In May of 1967, he was hired at the then new barbershop in Hightstown called “Lou’s Barbershop.” Two years later, Lou left and Mr. Huzzy took over, changing it to its current name.
   Back in 1967, haircuts were $1.25, and shaves, which Mr. Huzzy no longer does, were only $1.
   Last week, John Cirullo’s haircut cost $14. The 46-year-old Cranbury resident, who has been a regular of Walt’s for about 30 years, said he would gladly give him more every week he comes here.
   ”I used to take my bike here,” Mr. Cirullo recalled. “He’s a good man.”
   One of the things that makes Mr. Huzzy enjoy his job is the kind of people that walked through his door over the years. Though he won’t claim to have had any famous people come by, he has seen all kinds of people sit in one of his green barber chairs and share their individual stories.
   Customers like Mr. Cirullo, Mr. Huzzy said, are part of up to four generations of the same family that frequent his shop.
   Mr. Huzzy didn’t convince his own children and grandchildren to follow his lead, however.
   ”It definitely wasn’t their thing, not even as a backup plan,” Mr. Huzzy said with a laugh.
   As far as reaching 50 years running his barber shop in Hightstown was concerned—or 45, for that matter—he wasn’t sure.
   ”That is something I’m undecided on,” he said. “It could be next year. It could be 10 years. As I said, I don’t do this because I have to, I do this because I want to.”