Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008

Two new businesses open in Valley Falls

by Clarke Davis

Two new businesses adjacent to one another have started up in recent weeks on Broadway in Valley Falls.

Melissa “Missy” Mumford has opened her own hair salon at 413 Broadway called The Cutting Edge.

Next door to the salon in the Zieg building is John Nevins, a massage therapist, who has opened his own business.

The Cutting Edge will serve both men and women with cuts, styles, perms, and color.

“Anything hair related,” Mumford said.

A graduate of the American Academy of Hair Design, Topeka, she got her start in the cosmetology business in Nortonville about eight years ago, first in her home and then in a salon downtown called Design 2000.

For the past five years, Mumford has been the education director and teacher at the American Academy where she graduated from.

“Not only did I teach there but I advanced my own educational background as well,” she said. “Especially in becoming a color specialist.”

The cosmotologist was born and raised at Richmond, but had family at Valley Falls. Her mother is Carolyn Thompson, known locally as one of the Clark twins.

Her husband, Chris, is employed at Topeka Foundary. They live near Valley Falls and each has three sons. The six boys range in ages from 7 to 16.

Appointments can be made by calling 945-3655.

John Nevins, 38, is making a career change. Having been a welder, he said a few years of that can be hard on the body.

Nevins has graduated from the Massage Therapy Training Institute, headquartered in Kansas City.

His new business is called Designed Bodyworks and he will specialize in Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, and custom design.

“Swedish massage is more for circulation and stress relief,” he said. “It’s good for people who can’t exercise.”

Deep tissue massage helps rehabilitate and tone muscles and is good for the athlete.

“People not familiar with massage therapy mistakenly think it’s a luxury . . . one is being pampered, but it’s really much more than that,” Nevins said. “The main reason is theraputic and to improve health.”

Nevins is a divorced father of three daughters. He’s a Nortonville native where he still resides and where his two youngest daughters attend school.

He is the son of Marsha Davis, Nortonville, and the late Charles “Chuck” Nevins, a casualty of the Vietnam War. His grandparents are Floyd and Florence Nevins and Oleta King, all of Valley Falls.

Appointments for a massage can be made by calling 224-9391.

Both businesses will maintain Tuesday through Saturday hours and be closed Sunday and Monday.