Harold Borders was a 'cut above the rest'

When Harold Borders was laid to rest a few days ago, the Pond Creek area of Pike County lost much more than a good citizen and pillar of the community. Every small town community is sure to have memories if at least one barber who could be likened to Mayberry's Floyd on the long-playing Andy Griffith Show. There are, have been, and will always be barbers.

Then there was Harold Borders.

Harold Borders will always be remembered as much more than the local barber. It was his chosen vocation for more than a half-century and allowed him to carve a niche into more hearts than nicks in heads. Borders' legacy, which grew over the decades to help label him as a community favorite and an icon in his own right, was also obtained in part because of his baseball talents back in the glory years of the now defunct semi-pro Coalfield League. His contributions to youth baseball around the section known as Pond Creek assisted toward contributing to his legacy. Many benefited from his tutelage and mentorship. Most of all, his widow and offspring can boast of the principals, values, and faith in God on which this man based his life. He lived and exhibited each of them daily.

Harold Borders wasn't just any ordinary barber. For the scores of patrons who frequented his shops over the past half-century (first, when he started his career by sharing a shop with another barber at the Eastern Coal Corp, mining complex at Stone, Ky., followed in the mid-fifties by his first of two private shops in the middle of Belfry near the high school, and later, ending up some seven miles up Pond Creek in a small shop at the bottom of the hill from his house at the mouth of Runyon's Branch), his places of operation were always more than just a barber shop adorned with a spinning candy-cane like sign near the entrance where one could get their routine shave and hair cut.

A visit to Harold Borders' Barber Shop was rewarded with much more than what his skills provided patrons through his use of a set of clippers, a comb and a pair of scissors. While the chairs aligning the walls on the inside of his small shops were usually filled, most of the time loafers outnumbered patrons. His shop was always the place to be for gossip, fraternizing, sharing opinions, solving the world's problems and conversation. The latter was always the greatest enticement. Of course, if one wasn't a sports aficionado, Harold Borders' Barber Shop wasn't necessarily the place to hang out.

While visiting Harold's place, one could expect to be inundated with sports talk. The talk would range from whatever sports were in season at Belfry High School to professional boxing, UK basketball, and of course, the pennant races. The latest news was always heard along with a smattering of opinions, which seemed to always vary. Of course, one of Harold's favorite subjects was his beloved Boston Red Sox. No one was any happier than Harold when the Red Sox finally snapped the highly publicized Bambino jinx last fall and captured the World Series championship. Unfortunately, shortly after the Red Sox' triumph, he encountered what was to be a courageous battle with a terminal illness, to which he succumbed a couple of weeks ago.

A trademark of Borders' legacy will be the dapper way he dressed. A style setter in the fifties and sixties, this man would never be caught in a barber's smock. He chose to wear laundered white shirts, with custom-altered collars, narrow ties and trousers that were always pegged at the bottom. His attire often featured a vest and his black, combed hair was always in place.

A visit to his house a few months ago by this writer and Jim Van Zant, the widely-known former sports editor of the Williamson Daily News (whose column 'Strictly Personal' has appeared in several publications over the years and who has always been a special member of Borders' wide circle of friends), found Harold out of bed and sitting in a living room chair, welcoming and hosting us in his familiar white shirt, black narrow tie and yellow knit vest. 

For nearly two hours we reminisced about baseball and Harold's' playing days when he was dazzling fans and opponents from his second and third sack positions, as well as at the plate, and his buddy, Van Zant, was writing about it. Borders' diamond talents were introduced to the Tug Valley area in the late 40's after he moved from native Vulcan, W. Va. to Stone, Ky. to play for Eastern Coal Company's fabled semi-pro Red Robin baseball team. Borders also played and starred for the town of Jenkins entry in the same league.

Always an avid supporter of the Belfry High School Pirates, his son, Harold, Jr., currently a coach and educator with the Madison County Schools, was an outstanding all-around athlete at Belfry High School. A granddaughter, Anna Bevins, graduated from Belfry in 2004, where she established herself as possibly the best all-around female athlete in the school's history, having starred in basketball, volleyball, and softball. She currently plays volleyball and softball at Pikeville College.

The memories etched in so many minds of those who not only patronized, but adored this man will associate him with the days when barber shops were often looked upon as a vital organ that helped pump a community's blood. The shop was similar to Baldridge's Barber Shop in Paintsville, Gary Wright's Barber Shop in Prestonsburg and the late Basil May's Barber Shop in Salyersville, but Harold Borders' Barber Shop will always mean a little more to so many.

A normal 15-minute cut could easily end up taking 45 minutes or longer, depending on what Harold had to talk about. There was no extra charge for the conversation and knowledge he passed along, while often sharing a few of his own life's experiences. These would be sprinkled with a bible verse or scripture here and there and we all eventually realized that what we were able to share with this special person was priceless and we wished we could have sat in his chair just one more time.

Unfortunately, life threw our friend Harold Borders a curve this time that he wasn't able to handle, but just like the days when he was wooing crowds with his glaring propensity to win and his acrobatic plays at second base, he stayed in the game and battled right down to the final out. He exhibited to the end the same type of determination he always encouraged others to exhibit. It was the type of attitude and demeanor that helped separate this special man from most.

There are barbers, but there will always be only 'one' Harold Borders. 

He was truly a cut above the rest.

'Nuff said.

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Harold Borders

Harold Borders, 78, of 43 Runyon Branch, Pinsonfork, Ky., passed away Tuesday, July 26, 2005, at his residence.

Born January 25, 1927 in Vulcan, W.Va., to the late Ernest Borders and Quella Mounts Borders, he was a self-employed barber, a former pro and semi-pro baseball player for Jenkins and Pikeville, Ky. and for Red Robin Baseball Club at Stone, Ky. in the 40s and 50s. He coached in the Pond Creek Babe Ruth Baseball league for 19 years, was a veteran of WWII with the Army and member of the Belfry United Methodist Church. He was a Christian for 52 years.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Pearl Borders. Surviving are his wife, Evelyn DePoole Borders of Pinsonfork, Ky.; son, Harold Irvin (Debbie) Borders of Berea, Ky.; daughter, Susan (Joe) Bevins of Pinsonfork, Ky.; brothers, Grant (Sue) Borders of Riverview, Mi. and James (Pat) Borders of Romulus, Mi.; sisters, Sarah Dotson of Freeburn, Ky. and Acquilla Harris of Flat Rock, Mi.; six grandchildren, April (Mike) Sowers of Somerset, Ky., Mark, Rocky and Denise Borders of Berea, Ky., Derrick Bevins and Anna Marie Bevins of Pinsonfork, Ky.; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Friday, July 29, 2005, 11 a.m., at Belfry United Methodist Church with Rev. Mike Stanley, Harles Ray and Jim Tom King officiating. Entombment will follow in Mt. View Memory Gardens, Huddy, Ky. Belfry Chapter #141 DAV will perform military rites. Visitation will be held after 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at Rogers Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Kentucky United Methodist Home for Children, P.O. Box 749, Versailles, Ky., 40383 or Hospice of Pike County, 229 College Street, Pikeville, Ky. 41501.Funeral arrangements are under the direction of R.E. Rogers Funeral Home, Belfry, Ky.