WEBSTER — Tony Wika has been trimming hair for 56 years, and he’s earned a reputation for entertaining his customers while he clips and cuts.

“I’m halfway known as the singing barber here,” Wika said.

His modest barbershop is nestled among the other Main Street businesses in Webster, with a small note on the door bearing the name Tony’s Barber Shop.

The walls are eclectically filled with a collection of quotes handwritten on pieces of paper, presidential portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and other paintings and pictures. Wika called it a bulletin board of sorts.

Another corner is filled with coconuts carved into various characters. Wika said he bought one at a rummage sale because he thought it would look good in the shop, and the collection has grown primarily from customer contributions.

Wika sings a variety of songs to his clientele. His most requested is “The Auctioneer Song.” He even sings a song in Japanese called “Utsukko Sekitennen,” taught to him after he helped another man learn “Oh My Darling, Clementine.”

All his lyrics are written down neatly in a 3-inch-by-5-inch spiral notebook. Wika said he uses his notebook as a reference so he knows which songs to sing next.

“I have to practice them, otherwise I’d soon forget them,” he said.

Wika got his first taste of cutting hair at his family home. Traditionally, his dad would give the haircuts. That is until Wika’s 1-year-old nephew sat down for a haircut and proved too much of a challenge for Dad.

“My dad started in, and the kid started kicking and screaming,” Wika said. “He said, ‘Sonny, you better take over.’”

The Webster-area native said he did such a good job on his nephew’s haircut that his dad asked for a trim, then asked Wika to cut his brother’s hair.

Wika said he also started fixing the “wonky” military haircuts for local guys he knew.

He enlisted in the military around the time of the Korean War, serving from 1953 to 1957, then opened his barbershop a couple of years after returning home.

Admittedly, his singing wasn’t the best at first. But it’s improved with the help of his wife, who plays piano. After singing with her accompaniment for a while, he now sings a cappella. He said he’s also performed as part of a jamboree for about 10 years.

After more than five decades in the business, Wika said he’s cut hair for multiple generations. He said his past customers include Webster High School graduate Brock Lesnar, who went on to become a champion professional wrestler and mixed martial artist.

Wika said he’s not ready to hang up the clippers just yet.

“I’ll be an old-timer after a while, but I hope it’s quite a while,” he said. “I’m just thankful to the good Lord I’ve got good enough health — that I’ve got something I can do, that I love to do — and I feel a little bit needed occasionally, and that keeps a guy going.”

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