L4B6 T Michigan Daily Weeke MagaineO-Thursdayb 0ciber 10, 1996
d.-
] Community Featurex
Fa er Marke displays state's
wares from produce to clothes
0 *The Michigan DAyWeekedn Ma
About Town
Two generations cut hapr at
historic Dascola Barbershop
3y Hae-Jin Kim
or the Daily
Ann Arbor's Farmer's Market, wait-
ng to be discovered by University stu-
lents, was a source of delight to Ann
Arbor residents even 100 years ago.
Nowadays, it has become a necessity
For many.
Carla Slebodnick, an Ann Arbor resi-
dent, said, "It's nice to see all the farm-
-rs and buy the vegetables directly in
season. It can't get any better in the gro-
cery."
From fresh produce to hard-to-find
hand-crafted knick-knacks, the
fresh basil, corn and green peppers.
These scents, combined with the mar-
ket's friendly atmosphere, provide a
truly unique and unmatched grocery /
shopping experience.
Walking is the preferred method of
transportation to the market. William
German of Doty Place Farms near
Tecumseh, Mich., has devoted 40 years
to the Farmer's Market. "What we need
here is more parking area, especially
customer parking," he said. Most of the
surrounding parking spots tend to be
occupied by the massive produce trucks
of the farme
Farmer's Market
offers a plethora
of items. A 15-
minute walk from
Central Campus,
the Farmer's
Market is located
in Kerrytown's
Historic Market
District on the
corner of North
Fifth Avenue and
Detroit Street.
The bustling.
market is situated
outdoors with
vendors sprawled
across an entire block.
The Ann Arbor
Farmer's Market
V What: Everything from fresh
fruit to ornaments to knick-
knacks.
V Where: in Kerrytown, at the,
corner of Detroit Street and
North Fifth Avenue.
~ When: May through Dec. 24
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 7
a.m. to 3 p.m.; January throug
April, Saturdays only 8 a.m. to
P.m,
rs, and parking, except at
the peak of dawn,
is scarce.
Although pro-
duce is the pri-
mary business,
one should
expect to see
almost anything
at the Farmer's
Market. Oak cut-
ting boards,
maple syrup,
fh bread, candle set-
3 tings, wreaths,
beeswax, winter
jackets, minia-
ture scarecrows
According to her husband, Jerry, "If
produce isn't good, crafts fill in for
hobby." Jerry Umin has been a vendor
at the Market for about 30 years, which
isn't extraordinary, as many of the other
vendors have been there an equal or
longer time.
"I've been doing it since I was a real-
ly young kid," Umin said. "I've been
coming to the Market for 30 years. I'm
not even sure, it's been so long."
German, another proud Farmer's
Market veteran, said, "I started coming
here with my parents in the early '40s."
The Farmer's Market was created
about 50 years before German came to
Kerrytown, said Peter Stark, a
University alum and owner of
Renaissance Acres Organic Herb Farm
in Webster Township. Stark, a Market
veteran also familiar with its history,
said, "The person who originally owned
the Farmer's Market about 100 years
ago willed it to the city of Ann Arbor
under a clause that it was to always
remain a farmer's market."
Stark, who once sold to Kroger Corp.
and 60 to 70 little stores across
Michigan, finds his work at the
Farmer's Market rich and satisfying. "I
get to know quite a few of the vendors
and regular customers. We chat - 99
percent of the people are friendly. And
of course, the people-watching here is
fun," he said.
Although Stark's farm specializes in
organically growing herbs, more than
500 varieties of plants are grown at the
Renaissance Acres Organic Herb Farm.
His Scented Geraniums serve aromatic
and ornamental purposes as well as
some culinary uses. Coconut, Spanish
Lavender and Chocolate Mint are only
a few of the many different types of
Scented Geraniums one can buy for an
affordable $4.
Stark also raises numerous Chinese
Medicinals. Schisandra (Wu-wei-zi),
also referred to as "Chinese Prozac," has
adaptogenic and immune-enhancing
properties similar to ginseng. Tibetan
Gentian, a rare medicinal species from
Tibet, is used to expel wind dampness,
damp heat, jaundice and ... dry consti-
By Katie Wang
Daily Staff Reporter
It's hard to find an old-fashioned bar-
bershop these days. If you look closely,
though, you will find the Dascola barber-
shop, located on Liberty Street. It's been
around since 1939, when brothers
Dominic and Ernest Dascola decided to
open up their own barbershop. It was only
natural that they would enter the barber-
ing profession - after all, their father
Antonio, an Italian immigrant, also cut
hair, as did their eldest brother Patsy.
Today. 57 years later, Dominic (Dom),
83, and Ernest (Ernie), 78, are still cutting
hair. And the shop, they
say, still looks the same
as it did in 1939. Only D
haircuts are no longer Bar
65 cents - they're
S12.50. And, there is
another Dascola barber, V Where:61
anxiously tried to tell the history behind
the Dascola barbershop.
The elder Dascola sternly reminded his
younger brother to tell about their father.
Ernie shooed him away with a newspaper
and told him that he will have his turn to
be interviewed. Then he turned and said,
"See, I'm the baby in the family and he
still treats me like one."
Ernie first worked at the barbershop
sweeping hair when he was only five. At
the tender age of 10, he gave his first hair-
cut to a person, whose head he says was
so large that it was shaped like a water-
melon.
ascoia
bershop
5 E. Liberty Street
onday-Friday 8:30
p.m.; Saturday
4:20 p.m.
His most inter-
esting cutting
experience took
place on the eve of
his wedding day in
1946, when the
razor accidentally
slipped from his
hand and shaved
off the tip of a cus-
tomer's nose.
niques," Dom said, before rushing off to
attend to a customer.
Bob, who now owns the store, was
relieved to have a seat and talk, After all,
he had been on his feet all day.
"I've gotten my education standing by
the chair," Bob said, speaking of the one-
on-one lectures he has with University
professors who get their hair cut at
Dascola's. "I wouldn't trade in the educa-
tion I've gotten here for anything in the
world."
Bob, who has cut the hair of former
University presidents, including Robben
Flemming and Harold Shapiro, said he
never cut James Duderstadt's hair, but he
hopes to cut the new University presi-
dent's hair.
"Flemming was kind of an all business
type of guy. Shapiro was very quiet,
always thinking about things," Bob said.
Students, he said, have changed
through the years. Gone are the protesters
- they have been replaced by a more
serious, ambitious student.
"Students today are very serious about
what they are doing, whereas kids back
then were wandering around aimlessly,
Bob said.
Will there be another generation of
Dascolas cutting hair? That's yet to be
determined. Currently, none of Bob's chil-
dren are interested in entering the haircut-
ting business.
But for now, Bob says the two gener-
ations of Dascolas will continue to cut
hair.
"We're all family. We work together,
we don't have separate cubicles. Just a
family and it goes along with our Italian
heritage."
Dominic's son Bob,
who joined the Dascola
cutting team in the late
1 960s.
Between these three
men, they have seen a
V Hours: Mo
am. to 5:20
8:30 ,m, to,
The Dascola Barbershop on E. Ut
ANN IIA RBOR II t
210 S.Fifth Ave. at Liuberty 761-9
BARGAIN MATINEE
DAILY BEFORE 6PA
Student Rates Daily after 6p
with valid student ID
It has but one
towering green metal awning in the
shape of a "V" to centralize the multi-
tude of booths. With a cobblestone road
bordering one side of the market and
rosy-faced children munching on cin-
namon doughnuts and peanut-covered
candied apples running along the side-
walks surrounding the market, it is
utterly hard to miss.
An aroma of pleasingly potent fresh
flowers mingled with apple cider, how-
ever, also serves to discern the Market
from its neighboring Kerrytown stores.
When walking through the market, one
becomes familiar with such smells as
and Christmas ornaments, among other
things, are sold there.
Joyce Umin of Umin Farms in New
Boston, Mich., makes one-of-a-kind
hand-crafted dolls for a hobby and sells
them at the market. These dolls are
actually created from real work gloves
which have been inverted and stuffed.
Umin then sews the fingers of the
gloves together to resemble small paw-
like feet. The thumb is stitched onto the
palm of the glove - creating the doll's
arm. To top it off, the dolls have little
cloth hats with patterns of strawberries,
making them cherishable gifts for
favorite young ones.
JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/DaWy
The Ann Arbor Farmer's Market has been in operation for more than 100 years.
pation - perhaps the answer to those
who find that their ExLax just doesn't
work?
If one can't make it to the Farmer's
Market, going directly to the
Renaissance Acres Organic Herb Farm
is also an option. Or one can go to the
Umin Farms and enjoy hand-picking
berries. On days when the Farmer's
Market is closed, many of these farmers
sell directly out of their farms. Several
of the vendors, however, choose to sell
only at the Farmer's Market or rotate
among markets in cities all across
Michigan, such as Brighton,, Pontiac
and Royal Oak.
"The booths here are assigned accord-
ing to seniority,' Denise Brock said. She
vends mainly plants, candle settings and
painted pumpkins. Of the 144 booths, 66
A play for the Venice Carnival by Carlo Goldoni
Based on the novel by Samuel Richardson
Fw-
Trueblood
Theatre
Oct. 10-12, 17-19
at 8 PM
Oct, 13, 20
at 2 PM
Special preview
performance
Oct. 9 at 8 PM
Tickets are $14
Charge by phone:
313-764-0450
Student seating is $7
with ID at the League
Ticket Office
people have permanent booths and 70
come to the Market and set up their
booths randomly. Although there may be
a little competition between vendors,
most of the vendors know one another
and enjoy each other's company.
Myla Snyder, a vendor of polar fleece
hats, collectively sums up the opinions
of the vendors when she said, "It's like
we're family."
In Denise Brock's case, this may
actually be true. Smiling and gesturing
toward 50 or so booths with a large
sweeping motion of her hand, she said,
"One half of them are family, we're
really related to each other."
A prominent white billboard sus-
pended from the awning high above the
booths reads, "A Friendly Shopping
Center ... where you are likely to meet
your neighbor." Although this message
was probably addressed to the cus-
tomers and many of the farmers come
from across the state, the billboard mes-
sage also takes on a special meaning
among the vendors.
The camaraderie felt between the ven-
dors extends to the customers and partic-
ularly the regulars. Devoted customers
can often be seen carrying short but spir-
ited conversations with the vendors, many
of whom are on a first name basis.
Rob Steinhardt, an Ann Arbor resi-
dent who has been a regular for six
years, especially enjoys coming to the
market. "It has a nice atmosphere, nice
people and tons of fresh vegetables. The
quality is good and the price is inexpen-
sive. You can't do this anywhere else,"
he remarked with the enthusiasm
matched by regulars and newcomers to
the Farmer's Market alike.
lot of history in Ann Arbor, and their store
is a reflection of that. Almost everything
in the shop, from the old-fashioned cash
register, to the baseball caps lined up on
the shelf, to the sports memorabilia fea-
tured in the front window, has a story
behind it.
"The most exciting thing that happened
to me here is when Cecilia Bartoli walked
into Dascola," Bob said excitedly as he
recounts the day the Italian opera singer
visited the shop last year.,
Ernie's face also lights up with the
exitement of an adolescent schoolboy
when he recounts that fateful moment
when he pecked his idol on the cheek.
"She kissed me right here," Ernie said,
pointing to the pivotal spot on his cheek.
Even though Bartoli spends most of
her time performing around the world, her
presence still lingers in the shop. Perhaps
it's the three photos of Bartoli on the wall,
or the cardboard cutout of her that stands
in the back of the shop, awkwardly placed
next to a poster of Michigan swimmer
Erik Namesnik.
The shop is a simple one: Seven pale
blue chairs (one for each barber to work
at) accompanied by seven pink sinks, a
cash register that is more than 50 years old
and a plethora of sports memorabilia dec-
orate the store.
For the Dascolas, haircutting has been
a family trade for almost a century now.
When Antonio first immigrated to the
United States in the early 1900s, he
changed the family name from D'ascola
to Dascola and opened up a barbershop in
the Upper Peninsula.
It was Antonio's eldest son, Patsy, now
95, who first followed his father's feet.
Patsy then shared with his younger broth-
ers Dominic and Ernest the art of cutting
hair.
The two younger Dascolas brought the
Dascola haircutting business to Ann
Arbor and they have been here ever since.
They playfully bickered as both of them
"I didn't get
scared," Ernie said.
"He came back and got another shave
from me later on."
When it was Dom's turn for an inter-
view, he was restless and not as anxious to
talk. When asked what inspired him to
enter the haircutting profession, instead of
answering the question, he interrupted
and said the most important thing to get
down is that today's beauticians are not
the same as the barbers of yesteryear.
"Most of the people who cut hair today
are not trained as barbers, they're trained
as beauticians. It's different cutting tech-
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715 N. University 761-CHIP
Mon-Fri 9:00am-8:00pm Sat 10:00am-5:00pm
Sun 12:00pm-5:00pm
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Department of Theatre and Drama
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Charge at 510-645-6666,
The State Theatre is located
Sw at 1115 Woodward Ave.
For woe b6f eg 33-61-545
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