Buzz is back: Alfie Butler, better known in Lehigh as just Plain “Buzz” is back in town working as a barber, a profession he has pursued for more than a quarter of a century. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Buzz is back!

That’s the sign greeting visitors to the Reflections Hair Studio at 3210 Lee Blvd., in Suite A, located at the corner of Lee and Sunshine boulevards. And Buzz is a barber who has cut hair in Lehigh for at least 22 years that was up to about a little more than a year ago when Buzz just disappeared, left town, leaving his customers at Silver Shears on Homestead Rd. to ask “Where is Buzz?”

“We think he moved north,” was always the reply from the barbers at the Silver Shears.

If you asked where Alfie Butler was, you would probably get a blank stare because everyone has always called him Buzz. He got it as a young man and it has stuck ever since.

Buzz did move north to be live with a son and his family.

Buzz Butler

“He wanted me to come up there and I thought it was a good idea and I enjoyed my time there, but the winter didn’t agree with me, so I decided to come back to Lehigh and when I returned to went to Reflections. I contact several of my former customers who always wanted me to cut their hair,” he said.

Buzz has been cutting hair for the greatest part of his life. He said he served a stint in the U.S. Navy and one day the captain came to him and asked him if he wanted to cut hair, that the barber was being transferred. So I had some quick lessons from the barber and I became the official barber for the sailors,” he laughed.

Professionally, he started cutting hair out of the military in 1959 when he was 21 after spending six years in the Navy.

“I remember his saying to me, ‘here is your comb, here are your scissors so start cutting,'” he laughed.

For the 20 plus years that he has cut hair in Lehigh, he worked with Sal Chiarelle, owner of Silver Shears and Buzz can’t say anything but good things about him

“We never had a cross word with one another during all those years and I consider him a good friend,” Buzz said.

“But when I came back, I learned that Silver Shears didn’t need another barber so that is when I came to Reflections.”

He’s been back since August 18 and many of his prior customers are slowing coming back and he says he is getting some new customers every week. His coming back to Lehigh has been spread around mainly by word of mouth plus there was an ad in the paper, too. He only cuts men’s hair.

Buzz is 72 and says he doesn’t know what he would do if he retired and that may be part of the reason he came back to Lehigh. While up north near Pittsburgh, he worked some and spent good time with a grandson, Keith. And while up there, he even lost some weight and some of his former customers say it shows.

Reflections is owned by two sisters-in-law, Cindy and Denise Rosa, who have owned Reflections now for around four years. The former owner, Crista Freeman retired and sold the business to the two women.

Buzz cuts hair from Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. He’s off on Mondays.

Buss is one of those barbers who never forgets how a man wants his hair cut and usually greets them with “you want it cut the same way?” He said many younger barbers and many women who now cut men’s hair will ask you what number you want your hair cut by. He pointed to several blades used on shears and noted the numbers are the same that the public is coming to know.

“A 3 is about a normal cut,” he said.

Reflections is open five and a half days a week from Monday to Friday and usually a hair appointment for a woman is made often after work hours. They also provide manicures and pedicures.

Buzz knew the two women because they rented out space at Silver Shears and cut and did women’s hair when he was a barber there.

“I got to know them and I thought I’d see if they would take me on and they did. We have had a lot of fun in here when there is nobody around,” he said.

Buzz said barbers are like priests sometimes because their customers talk about their personal lives.

“Oh they tell me about their wives, or what they’re doing and I listen, but I don’t repeat,” he laughed. “It’s just that way with barbers we listen and we don’t tell,” he said. “And with these women in here, there’s a lot of talking, too,” he said teasing them both.

“Just tell them that Buzz is back they will remember me, Buzz said. “And it’s great to be back in Lehigh. I can take these winters easier than up north in northern Pennsylvania. After I had been up there for one winter, I knew that was not for me. Guess Lehigh and Florida’s weather spoiled me, because it brought me back,” he said. “And I’m planning on staying.”