Tufts of hair surrounding the swivel chairs and the constant buzz of razors transformed the Marion Town Hall and Marion Police Department into a barbershop Monday morning.

Barbers and stylists from Total Upscale, at 3105 5th Ave., set up inside the town hall from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and donated their services to school children in need of haircuts and a fresh manicure for the upcoming school year. 

The Marion Police Department partners with the barbershop annually, holding the event at the town hall, which also serves as the police station, and providing doughnuts and drinks.

Lazarus Mathis, 4, squirmed in a chair between his brothers Emanuel Mathis, 10, and Alex Dukes, 12. Their mother, Edwina Mathis, sat across the room, watching her sons and cheering when Ricky “B” Boggan, barber and co-owner, shaved off Alex’s high-top hairstyle. 

“She’s clapping like it’s funny,” Alex said, protesting the forced haircut.

Mathis said Alex’s hair was damaged, prompting the change before the school year starts.

“He has to look like a gentleman,” Mathis said. “He has to represent.”

“It feels good to help out the community,” Jimmy Seale, a barber with Total Upscale, said. “We’re helping to motivate (the kids); showing that we believe in them, encouraging them to finish what they’ve started and saying that we’re proud of them.”

Seale promoted the barbershop’s next event, at Skate Odyssey from noon until 2 p.m. Aug. 2, challenging kids to race him.

“I’m the skate king. Meridian’s skate king,” he said, laughing with the parents and children packed into the room.

Boggan estimated that Total Upscale had given at least 100 haircuts during two days of events, serving a constant stream of young boys and giving young girls a fresh manicure.

“You can’t always give back financially,” Boggan said. “But we can give back with the gift that God has given us: our creative hands.”

Stylist Daisha Collins painted teenager Taliyah Ward’s fingernails while her younger sister, Jamyrical Moore, waited for her nails to dry.

Jamyrical, going into kindergarten, had one blue hand and one purple hand with sparkles and stripes. 

“I want to learn how to read books,” Jamyrical said. “And learning about the whole world, how to take care of babies… and how to paint nails.”

Officer Robert “Jeff” Moore said both of his sons, Tristan, 7, and Jayden, 4, got their haircuts.

“It’s not just about my sons, it’s about all the kids,” Moore said. “It’s about changing their perception of us (too).”

Moore said that through social media some kids may get the wrong idea about law enforcement.

“So we try to reach them when they’re young so that by the time they’re a teen we can say, ‘You don’t have to be afraid. We’re here to help,’ ” Moore said. 

And while some children may protest, Marion Police Chief Randall Davis knows the importance of a good haircut. 

“We provide hope to these kids,” Davis said. “Kids may have something else negative in their life and they won’t do good in school if they start off negative… What we do as adults will influence what they do.”

Davis said that the haircuts, combined with the annual school supply drive scheduled for Saturday, were part of the department’s community policing. However, this year’s event drew more children than expected.

“We can’t get everyone,” Davis said. “But it’s like that old saying, if you’ve done just one you’ve done your job.”