[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17222]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO SIMON ``CY'' VINCENT AVARA

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, the Beatles' song ``Penny Lane'' 
opens with lyrics about ``a barber showing photographs/Of every head 
he's had the pleasure to know/And all the people that come and go/Stop 
and say hello.'' They could have been describing my barber for over 30 
years, Simon Vincent Avara, or ``Cy,'' as he was known to everyone. Cy 
passed away this Saturday at the age of 81. I would like to take this 
opportunity to pay tribute to a good friend and amazing man.
  One might say that Cy Avara was born to be a barber. His parents 
Vincent and Mary were working class Italian-Americans. His father was a 
barber but was killed in a car accident when Cy was just 14. That did 
not deter Cy from following in his father's footsteps, however. He 
found an opportunity apprenticing for another West Baltimore barber and 
by the time he was just 16, he passed the examination to receive his 
master license. He was one of the youngest barbers in Maryland. While 
he was still 16, with just one year of high school under his belt, he 
opened his own barbershop with used equipment in a former funeral 
parlor. He charged 60 cents for a man's haircut and 40 cents for 
children.
  A short time later, in 1953, Cy was drafted into the U.S. Army and 
honorably served our Nation in the Korean War. When he returned to 
civilian life, he attended cosmetology school--the Baltimore Studio of 
Hair--to improve his skills when it came to cutting women's hair. As 
much as he enjoyed cutting and styling hair, however, his greatest 
satisfaction came from teaching others the same skill and giving people 
the chance to have a career and support themselves and their families. 
So Cy opened his own school in 1960, the Avara International Academy of 
Hair Design and Technology, in his southwest Baltimore neighborhood. 
That same year--when he was just 26--he also became a member of the 
Maryland State Board of Barber Examiners. A few years later, he became 
the youngest person ever elected to be national president of the Barber 
Examiners. He also served as secretary-treasurer of all union-
affiliated barber schools in America and was president and founder of 
the Maryland Hair Designer's Association. In 1970, Cy opened his second 
barber school, Avara's Academy Of Hair Design, in Dundalk, MD. The two 
schools have trained well over 2,000 barber/stylists. In 2011, Cy was 
inducted into the National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame.
  These accolades alone indicate that Cy lived a very successful life. 
But there was so much more to Cy. As a child, Cy was raised by his 
parents to appreciate his blessings and to help others who were less 
fortunate. For instance, his father gave haircuts to people who wanted 
to make a good impression so they could get a job; his mother provided 
food to those in need in their neighborhood. Cy never forgot these 
lessons in generosity. Starting in the mid-1960s, he became involved 
with St. Vincent's Center for Abused Children. Since then, once every 
month, he sent his barber students to St. Vincent's Center to cut the 
children's hair. He has also been a major contributor to the Ed Block 
Courage Award Foundation, which was started by one of his former barber 
students, Sam Lamantia, to honor professional football players who have 
overcome adversity and contributed to the betterment of their 
community. In the mid-1970s, Cy established a training program at the 
Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown under the supervision 
of a master barber which helped students at the Institution receive 
credit toward the 1,200 hours required to obtain a license so that once 
they were released, they would have the opportunity to continue their 
training and obtain a job in the barber industry. Cy also travelled to 
Annapolis frequently to lobby on behalf of the integrity of the barber 
and cosmetology industry.
  Cy was such an effective advocate for the industry that some of his 
children have followed in his footsteps. He saw his profession as a 
rewarding career opportunity for individuals from all walks of life. 
The important thing is to like people and to want to work hard. That is 
a pretty good description of Cy: he worked hard and he liked people, 
and made us feel welcome in his shop. But it was not hard work to him; 
it was his passion. He was extraordinarily skilled at his job.
  I may have a little bit less hair than I did when I first started 
going to Cy, but I am going to miss my friend who served his country, 
community, and family with such devotion. I am going to miss the 
special banter that may only occur between a barber and his long-time 
customers. I will take solace in the fact that there are literally 
thousands of barbers and stylists who were trained at one of Cy's 
schools and are carrying on the tradition he inherited from his father. 
On behalf of the entire Senate, I would like to extend my condolences 
to his wife, Rita T. Avara; his sons, Michael, Thomas, and Lawrence; 
his daughter, Susan Avara Watson; his sister, Carmelita Silanskas; his 
eight grandchildren, Lauren, Michele, Rachael, Joshua, Victoria, 
Jaclyn, Christopher, and Elise; and all the other family and friends of 
Cy Avara too numerous to mention.

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