Cecil Soil Magazine Haircuts with Herb

Haircuts with Herb by Ed Belote Sr.

Herb Benjamin has been cutting hair in the town of North East, Maryland for more than forty-five years. His barbershop
(just off the side of his tackle shop) has become a landmark, and all who visit appreciate Herb’s affable, witty personality.
Getting a cut at Herb’s is like stepping back in time; almost like being in Mayberry — the friendship and laughter beckon you to come back for more. Push open that squeaky screen door — come on in and listen...

January/February 2009: Girls Can Hunt, TOO!

Cap’n Mike, Herb’s son, just finished cutting the head of Leonard Hamilton, who then sat down for some serious discussion. Mr. Hamilton is quite the character with a ready smile and always a ready story.

“It was during the 1970 deer firearms season that I helped drag out the biggest deer in the state of Maryland,” he begun.

“That would be Wayne Hall’s ten-pointer that weighed 306 pounds dressed and it was estimated at 362 pounds walking around weight,” Herb quickly offered. (See Winter 2006, CSM, “Cecil County Celebrity”.)

“Yup,” Mr. Hamilton went on, “and I helped Wayne drag him out. I was a mile back in the woods, Turkey Point area, and I bumped into Wayne who was hunting near me. I told Wayne if he gets anything, give me a holler and I’d help him drag it out. Wayne went another half mile into the woods, and in short order I heard a couple shots. I drove my truck along a logging road towards him. When I saw his buck, I first thought he shot someone’s cow!”

Doug and Jo-Ann Cooper – Click on Cecil Snaps to see more photos of their hunting adventures and their amazing trophy room!

Cap’n Mike joined in with his memories of this history-making event, “Yes, Wayne told me the buck was just standing there and he shot and missed. His second shot got him.”

“My brother Albert, and a couple other fellows, loaded the buck up onto my truck. It took all of us to get him in the back of the truck. You can see that deer at the North East VFW. It’s on display there,” added Mr. Hamilton.

“That mount doesn’t look as impressive as the real buck,” said Herb. “I’ve never seen a deer with as big a neck as that one. They used the cape of a much smaller buck to mount him. I guess they couldn’t find a cape his size.”

“He never would have gotten that deer out by himself,” predicted Mr. Hamilton. Everybody in the shop mumbled in agreement and someone mentioned that Wayne was a small-statured man.

“Wayne was a good man, a quiet man. Never heard anyone say a bad thing about him,” said Herb. Everyone chimed in, “Yes, he was. Yes, he was.” After a bit, Herb’s shop was buzzing again with fellows needing a cut and some stopping in just for the entertainment.

One of the fellows who dropped in just to chat was Doug Cooper. Herb introduced him to me, “Ed, ole Doug here, is probably the greatest hunter you’ll ever meet, or maybe I should say his wife is!”

Judging by the laughter this comment got, I knew the other men in the room were familiar with Doug and his wife. Herb’s shop has a large bulletin board covered with hundreds of hunting photos and I learned half of them were from the Coopers. Every one of the Cooper hunting photos are of different animals from their many hunts together in all regions of the United States, Canada, and they even hunted just 200 miles south of the Artic Circle.

Ernie Arrants told a hunting story about a six-pointer he had dead-to rights on his crossbow and as he eased the safety off, his cell phone rang frightening off the deer.

I found Doug to be such a quiet and soft spoken man that we had to vacate the boisterous shop for a quieter area so that I could hear him. Later we drove to his house just outside the town of North East; and I met his wife and hunting partner, Jo-Ann, who is as unassuming as her husband. They led me into their trophy room and I was not prepared for what I was about to see. This good sized room was literally stuffed (pun intended) with all manner of game: whitetail and mule deer; a piebald deer; antelope; elk; caribou; moose; mountain goat; wild boar; coyote; brown bear; and even an American Buffalo.

Doug explained that a lot of people who see his trophies and know that these big game hunts are expensive, think he must be rich — when in reality he worked on the assembly line at Chrysler in Newark and carefully watched his money so that he and Jo-Ann could go hunting together.

Walter Biggers from North East

When I asked Jo-Ann how she got involved in hunting, she replied, “When we were young, it seemed I couldn’t spend five minutes alone with him. He was always in the woods hunting. This even led to arguments and I remember one time I called him a darn hillbilly hunter!”

At this point they both laughed and she continued, “So, I thought, if I can’t beat him, I’ll join him. And, if the truth be known, I really do enjoy bagging bigger animals than Doug.”

“And she usually does,” laughed Doug and he continued, “My life has been blessed. I have done a lot of things that many men just dream about, and I took my wife along for the ride — or maybe she took me.”
-CSM