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520 Etc.: Locks of Love: Coyote loses his pelt at Long Branch

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Last week, Clinton Middle School students helped with the Locks of Love Hair Drive to collect hair—particularly ponytails and braids—to go into natural-looking hairpieces for ailing children.

One of those who got sheared was the highly recognizable, long-time bassist for seminal Knoxville country rockers, the Lonesome Coyotes.

Stan Turner, a fixture on the Knoxville music scene for more than a quarter of a century, is sometimes known as the “quiet� Coyote. Or, maybe it’s the “cute� one. “Scary� Coyote? At any rate, he volunteered to have his trademark blonde ponytail lopped off for the cause.

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Coincidentally—appropriately—this tonsuring occurred at a venue known as the Long Branch. But this time the “Long Branch� in question wasn’t the Cumberland Avenue dive where the Coyotes were virtually the house band for many years. This Long Branch was the nearly as long-running Long Branch Beauty Salon in Clinton, near where Turner and his family live.

Proprietor Phyllis Long explained: “I named (it) the Long Branch because my last name is Long. Needless to say, I got a lot of kidding - also a lot of unexpected business. People would read the sign wrong and stop for a drink. The look on their face when they opened the door was priceless! Some would stay, out of shame, and get hair cuts.�

So many people thought it was a bar that potential coiffure customers were believed to be actively avoiding the place, Long continued. So, the businesswoman added “Beauty� to the name to clarify matters.

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Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. According to the organization’s web site, “We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.�

The Clinton middle schoolers involved in the project included the Hawks Helping Others Service-Learning Academy, an after-school program that encourages community service among students. The kids were aiming to make the largest school donation for Locks of Love in the country.

Several Clinton and Oak Ridge hair salons participated in the hair drive. Besides the Long Branch, these included Shear Traditions, Shear Cuts, Attitudes, New Reflections, and Prisms and Profiles.

For more information on the Locks of Love organization and its mission, go to: www.locksoflove.org.

Posted by the 520 gang on May 17, 2007 10:52 AM |

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