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After 72 years, town’s only barber hangs up his clippers
Norm Hagen started cutting hair in Glenwood City, Wisconsin when Harry Truman was president.
GLENWOOD CITY, Wis. — Displayed along one wall of the only barber shop in Glenwood City, is a gallery of historic photos.
“That was the first Cadillac in town,” Norm Hagen says as he points to two men seated in a motorized buggy.
Norm points to another photo, and then another.
“That was the first bank,” Norm says. “And then you had the grocery store.”
Norm and local history have always been close.
So, maybe it was inevitable he’d eventually become part of it.
“Seventy-two years,” Norm says, casually putting a number on a streak that’s almost too long to fathom.
For 72 years, Norm has been cutting hair on Glenwood City’s main street.
In 1952, fresh out of barber school, Norm went to work at 75 cents per haircut.
Later, “I raised it to a dollar,” he says, “and boy they got mad.”
Today, a haircut at Norm’s Barber shop will set you back $10 for adults and $5 for kids.
Generations of Glenwood City kids can thank Norm for their first haircuts, including Alex Brigham.
“That’s me and Norm,” Alex says, pointing to a picture on the wall of a young lad in a barber cape.
“Norm giving me my first haircut,” Alex says. He is seated in the same barber chair.
Bill Johnson too was “a little kid” when Norm first clipped his hair.
Few men Bill’s age can say they’re still going to the same barber.
“I’m 69 years old,” Bill says.
But then, few towns can claim a 92-year-old barber, who first plugged in his clippers during the Truman administration.
Norm and his late wife Mary had four children, three of them boys.
“I retired before my dad did,” Chris Hagen says with a laugh.
The Hagen boys grew up in their dad’s barber shop.
“You got to learn a fabulous vocabulary you couldn’t use at school,” Chris says, laughing still.
“Or at home,” his brother Todd Hagen adds, as the laughter continues.
The need for a hair cut has never been a prerequisite at Norm’s.
When the café closed up the street, Norm’s customers brought him a coffee maker, so they’d have a place to gather and share the town’s goings-on.
On any given day, the barbershop conversation could be politics or the Green Bay Packers.
“A lot of the world’s problems were solved here in this room,” Bill Johnson says.
Lately the talk has taken a turn. Especially, since the sign showed up in Norm’s window.
“Norm’s Retirement Party!” the sign proclaims.
After 72 years, the only barber in Glenwood City will close his doors after the April 27th party.
Some of Norm’s regulars are suggesting he take his 1948 barber chair home with him.
“Put it in the corner of the bedroom and we’ll come out there and get a haircut,” Norm’s brother, Richard Hagen, says, repeating a request he heard at the shop.
Why has Norm finally decided to retire – at 92?
“I want to try something else,” he says.
Norm hopes to spend more time helping his son on his farm. Beyond that, he’ll see what opportunities come his way.
One thing is certain, it’s not too late to add a new chapter to Norm Hagen’s history.
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Wadena-Deer Creek head coach Kyle Petermeier told families in a letter that a rash of injuries has reduced the roster to the point that playing is a “safety issue.”
WADENA, Minn. — A central Minnesota high school is pulling the plug on the remainder of its varsity football season, saying continuing to play would not be “safe or realistic.”
Wadena-Deer Creek head coach Kyle Petermeier sent a letter home to families earlier in the week, explaining the decision to skip the Wolverines’ final game and subsequent district playoffs. Petermeier said injuries began piling up as the club reached midseason, and roster numbers hit a dangerous low following Wadena-Deer Creek’s game in week 7.
Heading into the final regular season game against Staples-Motley, Wadena-Deer Creek had just eight healthy players from 10th to 12th grade. At that point, the coach said, a difficult but necessary decision had to be made in the interest of safety.
“We are in a position now where we would have to trot out a majority of our team that is 14 and 15 years old, and that is not in the best interest of our kids,” coach Petermeier explained. “To us, safety is ahead of any individual game result. Football is a physical sport and putting out a team of mostly 14-15 year olds vs. 17-18 year olds is not safe or realistic for our team, and even the opposing team playing. “
Before the decision to end their season, the Wolverines were 1-6 on the year, losing games by up to 50 points.
Coach Petermeier credited this year’s varsity squad for their preparation, training and effort, and told parents he believes the future of the Wadena-Deer Creek football program is bright with big participation numbers with players at the fifth- to ninth-grade levels.
“Football is a game that requires strength in numbers, and we will do anything we can to keep these numbers high and keep kids out for football,” he promised.
With a 17-member jury finally seated after an arduous selection process, the prosecution and defense on Thursday took the first step in building their cases.
MANKATO, Minn. — With an arduous jury selection process finally in the rearview mirror, both prosecutors and the defense began laying out their cases Thursday in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged with four felony counts – first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense – in the death of 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury, his live-in partner and mother of Favel’s two children.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi’s decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
Opening statements began shortly after 9 a.m. in Blue Earth County District Court, chosen as the venue after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled Fravel’s trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
The state was the first to address the jury panel, with prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz immediately painting a picture of Maddi as a successful career woman and mother who had become increasingly frustrated with Fravel and his inability to contribute as their seven-year relationship crumbled.
Prokopowicz told jurors that Kingsbury had met a man, Spencer Sullivan, on a dating app and as their relationship grew Maddi decided to end her partnership with Fravel. Kingsbury contacted her landlord and said she was terminating the least, and that she had found a townhouse where she and the children would live.
The state also laid out a list of electronic and video evidence it says proves Fravel killed Maddi and engaged in an elaborate coverup, also indicating there will be testimony on alleged abuse in the relationship.
Fravel’s defense team began its opening statement with a geography lesson of sorts, with attorney Zach Bauer naming Winona and the small communities of Rushford, Choice, Mable, and the highways and county roads that run through them. Bauer asked jurors to think about the locations as they listen to testimony and absorb the evidence presented in Fravel’s trial.
The defense then began painting its own picture of the relationship between Fravel and Kingsbury, saying like many couples they had disagreements and there were times Maddi would move out the home and other times when Fravel would go home to stay with his parents.
Unlike prosecutors – who said Kingsbury’s relationship with Spencer Sullivan was getting deeper – the defense told jurors about texts from Maddi to her sister saying she was going to marry Adam Fravel. Ultimately, Bauer told the court, Kingsbury and Fravel agreed to separate but were doing so in a cooperative and planned manner.
Bauer told jurors that Fravel cooperated with police after Kingsbury disappeared, saying his defense team would show that investigators ignored evidence and facts that suggested his innocence. He indicated they will challenge the prosecution’s version of how and where the body was found, and who may have had access to the remote site not far from Mabel.
The defense also said they will call a neighbor who will testify they never heard any fighting or signs of discord in the relationship between Kingsbury and Fravel.
The 16-year-old girl was last seen in September in north Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenage girl.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) shared Thursday on X that 16-year-old Tivona Cardenas was last seen in late September in north Minneapolis.
Cardenas is 5 feet 2 inches and 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Minnesota BCA.
If you have any information on the teen’s whereabouts, call 911.
