I met Luke Simons in about 2015 at the church where his father is the Pastor.  I was surprised how friendly and talkative Luke was, because most people in Dickinson are not like this with people from out of state.

At that time, I didn’t know anything about Luke, I didn’t know that he had been a barber, or that he intended to run for election in North Dakota state government.  I just knew that he owned and operated a roofing business, Simons’ Roofing.

It was either in 2015 or 2016, that Luke developed a very serious illness where he became unable to walk, and later unable to move.  He spent at least a month in the hospital in Bismarck, where he was diagnosed with something called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome causes muscle weakness and paralysis.  30% of the adults who recover from Guillain-Barre Syndrome never fully regain their previous level of muscle strength, and have residual muscle weakness.

Luke almost died in the hospital, but then he began to recover, and later over the following months he became able to walk again.  As far as I knew, Luke resumed his cattle ranching business, and his roofing business.  Luke was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2017.

About one month ago, Luke made an announcement on Facebook that he was opening his own barber shop in Dickinson, called The Gentlemen’s Barber Shop.  It was going to be located in the same building as his father’s business Simons’ Homes, directly east of the WalMart parking lot.

In Facebook comments or somewhere else, Luke was admitting to his friends that he had never recovered his complete strength, and that he was not able to be on the job sites doing the actual roofing work all day long, so Monday through Wednesday, he was now going to spend working in his own barber shop.

The Big Sky Barber Shop had the two best barbers in Dickinson, Matt and Paul.  They charged $20 for a haircut, and they were always completely booked all day, every day, Monday through Saturday, every week.  They couldn’t hardly ever accept walk-ins, because they were so completely booked.

I have very fine thin hair, with much more dense hair on the sides, than on the top.  The only barbers in Dickinson who could cut my hair and make it look good, not sticking out on the sides, were Matt and Paul.  I would have to wait weeks longer than I wanted to, to get a haircut, because Matt and Paul were completely booked, during the times when I was off work.

I had been thinking for a couple of years, that a barber in Dickinson would do very well to have late business hours, because so many men in Dickinson work until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  Like me, many men in Dickinson would have to wait weeks for the chance to get their hair cut during barbers’ business hours.

I saw that Luke’s barber shop was going to be open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, which I thought was a very good idea to stay open until 7:00 p.m.  I was a little hesitant to get my hair cut with Luke though, because I didn’t think that he had cut hair for a while.

I did not have anything important to do any time soon, where my appearance would matter, so I thought that now would be a good time to try to get my hair cut by Luke.  His barber shop was just completed this past week, so when I went in, everything was new.  The barber shop had plenty of room, and the bathroom was down the hall, where there is an extra room for his office, and an extra room for a pool table.

Luke did a very good job cutting my hair.  It turned out just as good as when Matt or Paul at the Big Sky Barber Shop cut my hair.  This is hard to do, to cut my hair so that it doesn’t look funny, because like I already said, my hair is very thin and fine, being more dense along the sides and much more sparse on the top.

I would recommend going to Luke the barber, and I hope that everyone will keep in mind that he is open for business until 7:00 p.m., if you are finding it difficult to get your hair cut due to work.