Local businessman is a cut above

WARREN/STERLING HEIGHTS — There are legends, and then there is Legends Salon.

Kevin Manny, owner of the salon/barber shop located at 32772 Ryan Road in Warren, recently gave back to the community in the way of go-karting, zip-lining and more.

Manny donated money to fund the Grissom Middle School eighth grade students’ end-of-the-year trip June 5 to C.J. Barrymore’s in Clinton Township. The students only had to pay $5 each, and Manny covered the rest. C.J. Barrymore’s has a number of indoor and outdoor attractions, including bowling, arcade games, bumper cars, laser tag, a Ferris wheel, roller coaster and more.

The students rode school buses to the entertainment center. Before they left, Manny and several of his 25 barbers stopped by the school cafeteria to make sure everyone had a “Legends Salon” baseball cap. The staff members also provided T-shirts for each student. Manny attended Grissom in the early 2000s. He was in the seventh grade when he began cutting his friends’ hair in the basement of his childhood home. He went on to create a successful business at Legends Salon.

“I remember my younger self, and it means a lot to me to take the kids out,” Manny said. “It’s a great chance to give back. Our community supports us, and it’s only right we keep supporting the kids now. We’re doing God’s work. That’s what it is.”

Grissom Principal Justin Hauser said the offer from Legends Salon started in the fall when a student cut his hair.

“He did amazing. A lot of kids want to be barbers,” Hauser said. “It went viral on TikTok. Kevin commented on it, and they wanted to give back. It kind of organically morphed into, ‘Let me pay for this eight-grade trip.’ It got the kids excited. They can go bond with each other one last time.”

The Grissom students have attended the school for three years for sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Because of the Warren Consolidated Schools boundary, the students will attend either Sterling Heights High School or Warren Mott High School. There is a group of students who will attend high school elsewhere.

Hauser gave the students a quick pep talk before they left for C.J. Barrymore’s.

“Thank you all for an amazing year. I’m super proud to have been your principal for the first year here at Grissom,” he said. “This is a way for us to say ‘thank you’ to you guys for all your hard work. We set some goals for you guys, and you achieved them. For a lot of you this is your last week with some of your classmates. Some of you are going to go to different high schools, so let’s make some memories.”

Hauser is a customer at Legends Salon, as are many of the students.