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FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: Cloverdale Barber Shop legend calling it quits next month
CLOVERDALE — Dan Moon has cut hair in a lot of Indiana cities, ranging from Lebanon to Noblesville to Indianapolis to Anderson
His wife was a teacher, and her career took her to those various locations. Moon moved his shop along with her at every stop, with his final stop being at Cloverdale in 1980.
Next month, after 40 years of operating the Cloverdale Barber Shop on Main Street, Moon will be hanging up his scissors and clippers and retiring at age 82.
Not only known for giving good haircuts, the walls of Moon’s shop are filled full of Indiana University and Cloverdale basketball memorabilia, with a few Donald Trump items also visible.
How it started
Moon admits he stumbled upon his career by accident after eliminating several other possibilities.
“I messed around for a few years and I knew I didn’t want to be a policeman because my daddy was a policeman,” Moon said. “I didn’t want to be a doctor because I don’t like blood and guts, and I didn’t want to be a lawyer because they argue all the time. I drove by the barber shop, and there sat the barber sitting in his chair, smoking a cigarette, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.
“I knew he had a new house and a new car, and I thought that’s what I wanted to do,” he said with a laugh. “I decided I wanted to go to barber school, and I did. I don’t regret a minute of it.”
Moon was born in Elwood, north of Indianapolis near Marion, and was raised in Pendleton. His wife is a native of Spencer, so their final move came to Cloverdale
“This has been my favorite place to live and cut hair,” Moon said. “I really like it here.”
Clover hey-day
Moon arrived just in time for the outstanding team that Cloverdale High School had in the early 1980s with Chad Tucker, Jerry Neese and Roger Shrum among others.
“Yeah, they definitely had some very good teams in those days,” Moon said. “They were fun to watch. We really enjoyed that.
“Cloverdale will have a hard time seeing basketball like that again,” he added. “Chad Tucker still holds the scoring record at Butler. He was just flat good.”
Unfortunately, Moon was unable to watch the record-breaking careers of Cooper Neese and Jalen Moore over the past few years due to his health.
“I haven’t been able to go to any ballgames the last 11 years, because I had a cardiac arrest then and had open heart surgery. My heart doctor wants me in bed by 8:00, so I can’t go to the games. He told me to go to bed at 8, and to have the TV shut off.“
Hoosier memories
Moon’s collection of IU materials includes a schedule poster from the past 40 years, an IU doll given to him by someone, a Bobby Knight doll that he has enclosed in a glass case, a road sign for “Bobby Knight Ct.” and numerous other stickers, pennants and various items.
One item sticks out more than the others, though — a letter written to him from coach Knight during his recovery from heart surgery.
“A lot of these things were given to me, but I bought the Bobby Knight doll,” he said. “A lot of stuff I have brought in and accumulated over 30 years. One of my customers got ahold of Bobby Knight and had him send me that letter.”
Moon’s collection extends beyond IU and Cloverdale, though. He also has a schedule poster from the 1954 Milan High School team that won the Indiana state championship that was signed by each player on the team.
In a back hallway, Moon also has the aluminum print plates used in the printing process for all five of Indiana’s national championships.
He isn’t sure when Indiana will pick up its sixth title, though.
“Probably not in my lifetime,” he said.
Moon likes everything about Knight and the IU team, and had season tickets for several years until his wife went to live in a nursing home.
“The team that went undefeated in 1976 was a really good team,” he said. “That’s not something you see very often. That was a good bunch of boys.”
One of the highlights for moon was when IU player Kyle Hornsby stopped by the shop to get his hair cut, and the two men had their photo taken together.
Shop’s future
Moon has already made a deal to sell the shop to Brian Smith, who lives nearby and has been cutting hair at Monrovia for the past 16 years.
Smith is not a “big basketball nut,” so Moon says the shop’s decor will be going home with him.
“I’ve got to take that all down,” he said. “I don’t know if I have enough room or not, but I’ll find a place.”
Moon admits he’ll miss not only cutting the hair of his customers, but also the conversation that goes on within the walls of the small shop.
“I’m going to miss it, but I’m glad I have a good barber — a country boy type — to take my place,” Moon said. “I’ve been cutting these guys’ hair for a lot of years.
“You can’t deal with people, argue with people and fuss with people and say you’re not going to miss it. You’re going to miss it.”
Moon admits he needs to pick up a hobby to take up some of his newfound spare time.
“I don’t hunt, I don’t fish, I don’t chase women.... I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “But I’ll find something. You can’t go home and sit in the La-Z-Boy. You’ll die.”
Two customers arrived during the interview with a journalist, and admitted they were not in a hurry and that the interviewer could continue.
“I love him. I come here every time,” said Richard Morgan, a customer for the past 15 years. “It’s going to be different. I hate to see him go.”
Steve Williamson has been a customer even long, with a 25-year history of coming to Moon’s shop.
“I’ve been coming here a long time,” he said.
Moon admits his hair-cutting days may not be entirely over, just as a full-timer. Should Smith become ill or go on vacation, Moon said he’d be glad to fill in.
“I told him I’d do anything he needed me to do,” Moon said.
On a chilly afternoon this week, Moon had been idle for a little while until the two customers arrived.
“I’ve been sitting around having me a little break here,” he said. “There are uusually one or two or three in here, and then you’ll sit for a while.”
Moon says the number of customers per day can vary greatly from week to week.
He took a week off earlier this month due to a death in the family, and when he came back the following Monday he cut 29 heads of hair.
“I had a day the week before that when I only cut two heads of hair,” Moon said. “You just can’t tell when they’re going to come.”
All customers are of the walk-in variety.
“I don’t take appointments,” Moon said. “Men don’t keep appointments. Somebody calls and says ‘Let’s go fishing’ and they go and do that. I don’t take appointments, but I enjoy the dickens out of it.”