W
hen Bill Ammons isn’t cutting hair at his Kelso barbershop, he’s probably out doing a good deed for someone in the community, whether it’s collecting food for needy families or giving a bicycle to a child. “I believe if we’d all take time and quit being so greedy, we could make this world a lot better place,” Ammons says. Ammons was born in Kelso in 1942 and grew up just three blocks from where his longstanding Pacific Barber Shop is located. His father started the barber shop in 1933, and Ammons took over in 1962. Since 1977, he has refused to raise his prices. “I charge $4 for a haircut or whatever you have down to a dollar,” he says. “The good Lord has blessed me with a good living, and I don’t believe in raising my prices.” Ammons has been saving his tip money for charitable causes for the past 30 years, using it for everything from buying jackets for kids in need to giving backpacks filled with school supplies to local schoolchildren. Every year, he grows 500 tomato plants and gives the fruits of his labor to area senior citizens. “I’ve always felt it was better to give than to receive,” Ammons says. “We all have something that excites us, and for some people it’s buying a new car. But seeing a smile on the face of a young boy or girl is something money can’t buy.”
Ammons organizes an annual food drive called Drive Away Hunger that collects thousands of pounds of food through the Lower Columbia Community Action Program Help Warehouse. The donated food is distributed to more than 200 needy families, the battered women’s shelter and Mountain Ministries. Ammons also partners with the local fire department each year to give away bicycles to low-income school children. “Kids need somebody to help them,” he says. “When I give, I feel 10 feet tall. Seeing a kid smile means everything to me.”
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL W. BUNCH
Benevolent Barber
For three decades, barber Bill Ammons has saved his tips and used them to fund community projects.
Planting Seeds of Artistic Inspiration R ichard Bacon is on a mission to help people reconnect with nature. The Kelso resident owns and oper-
Flowers bloom brightly in a quirky wagon planter at Richard Bacon’s All Seasons Garden Center in Kelso.
COWLITZ CO U NT Y
ates All Seasons Garden Center, a six-acre nursery and display garden that features the most diverse botanical collection in southwest Washington. The center also offers an art gallery, gift shop, educational workshops and summer camps where kids learn to make birdfeeders, leaf prints and garden stepping-stones. “Because of computers, kids aren’t climbing trees, playing outside and connecting with the natural world anymore,” Bacon says. “I want to help kids appreciate nature.” Bacon lived in San Diego in 2004 when a wildfire destroyed his neighborhood. It was then that he began looking for a place to develop a nature art center. “I came up with the idea in 1994 when I lived in Kyoto, Japan,” he recalls. “I saw how the culture there lived in harmony with nature, and I saw the discord here. I wanted to reconnect people with nature – it has a healing effect.” Bacon chose to put down roots in
Kelso for several reasons. “There are three beautiful rivers here, and we’re only 45 minutes to the ocean. We’re surrounded by mountains, and the air is fresh and pure,” he says. “There’s also a unique climate for growing.” All Seasons Garden Center is home to many tropical plant varieties, banana trees, palm trees, angel’s trumpet, giant sequoias and redwoods, and a plethora of other unusual flora. Visitors to the gift shop will find nature-related artwork and gifts, including framed prints, jewelry, sculptures, woodcarvings, handpainted silk, blown glass, stained glass and T-shirts with illustrations of wildlife and nature. Bacon converted a detached garage into the EdenArts Gallery, where he showcases his line of nature greeting cards and the artwork of area artists. “A show called ‘Flower Power’ is up this year with 36 paintings,” he says. “Some were painted right here in the garden.” – Stories by Jessica Mozo I M AG E S C O W L I T Z C O U N T Y. C O M
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