Mr. Clinton is back

Clinton McKenzie, owner of Mr. Clinton's Family Salon, is one tough son-of-a-gun. Five years ago he had heart surgery and had a quintuple bypass. He kept working. A little over a year ago, McKenzie had surgery for a blood clot in his left leg. When he went back for a checkup for the surgery, a problem was discovered with his right leg and it was amputated. Then he had three of the toes on his left foot taken off. Friday, he went back to work, but he had to make some adjustments.

"I love my work," McKenzie said. "My customers are my friends, I want to see them as much as I can."

McKenzie explained how he cut hair from a power wheelchair.

"I have a board I put across the arms," McKenzie said. "It's pretty thick and when I get up on it I'm high enough to cut hair."

Another change McKenzie has experienced is that he needs assistance, ably provided by his wife, Joy. For years, Joy worked in the kitchen at Cottey College, and before that ran Joy's Chicken Inn, even though she too has a beauticians education.

"She's got to be at the shop to help me," McKenzie said. "Joy is my primary care, I couldn't find a better wife anywhere. We've had our trials and tribulations but everyone does."

Joy said their long marriage helps the understanding.

"After more than 50 years we know each other pretty well."

McKenzie said he started out in barber college but changed course after he'd started.

"I was in barber college and I saw all these beautiful women going upstairs to the beauty school and I kidded the guys I was going to transfer, and I did it," McKenzie said.

McKenzie spent five years in Florida and then moved back to Nevada, bringing a different style with him.

"When I first got into it, it was finger waves and then it was beehives," McKenzie said. "When I came back to Nevada no one was doing back combing."

Over the years, McKenzie has seen many styles come and go, and has done most of them.

"Over the years, there have been so many styles, and there aren't many that I haven't done," McKenzie said. "Hair cuts, too. We went through mohawks and all those weird styles guys come up with."

McKenzie has seen a lot of young people grow up in his shop as well.

"I've gone through a lot of generations here," McKenzie said. "When I started, some of the guys were teenagers and now they've got kids and grandkids coming in with them."

McKenzie charges $5 for a haircut and doesn't plan to increase the price.

"I get $5 for a haircut and some would ask why I don't charge more but I get by on volume," McKenzie said. "Before I lost my leg, I cut 20 or more heads a day and then there's the tints and the perms, too."

It's taken a long time for McKenzie to come back, but he said he never doubted he would.

"I'm just glad to be back, there were times I'd tell someone I'd be back and they'd shake their heads," McKenzie said. "At first it was 'I'll be back in May,' then they'd take a toe and I'd say, 'I'll be back in July,' but it's finally time to come back. It's been a long process, but here I am."

People ask McKenzie about retiring, but he will have none of it.

"People say, 'Why don't you retire?' and I say people who retire sit down and don't get up," McKenzie said. "I wasn't ready to sit down and I'm not ready to retire."

If it's up to McKenzie, he'll never stop.

"I'm ready to go another 20 years," McKenzie said.