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Crowd shows plenty of enthusiasm for Democrats

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Mullery, Behrens vie for 119th Legislative seat

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8211; With a smile from ear to ear, Don Boyer felt as good as new Sunday afternoon.</p><p>The Wilkes-Barre native was one of about 20 area homeless people that gathered inside the Church on the Square for &#8220;Slices and Cuts&#8221; which offered free food and haircuts to the area homeless.</p><p>With his strawberry blonde hair freshly cut just about his shoulders and a newly shaped beard, Boyer&#8217;s eyes gleamed as others in the room gushed over his new look.</p><p>Boyer said it&#8217;s been about a year since he was last able to have a haircut, which is also as long as he&#8217;s been homeless in the area. After hearing about the event, he decided to take advantage of the offer.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s fantastic. There&#8217;s people that look at us and frown upon us because of circumstances beyond our control,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Anything like this is grateful.&#8221;</p><p>The event was a collaboration between Dino&#8217;s Pizza Express owner Dominic Buonsante and Alexander&#8217;s Salon and Spa owner Brandon Rice, who joined forces with the church to make the initiative a reality.</p><p>Watching on as several men were in the middle of their cuts and trims, Buonsante said the South Main Street pizza shop has been helping the displaced for the past few years through its &#8220;Slicing Out Hunger&#8221; events, where patrons are able to donate a dollar that goes toward serving slices of pizza to the homeless.</p><p>Since moving the business into the downtown, Buonsante said he felt a need to do more for the underprivileged in the area and decided to call on some friends for help.</p><p>&#8220;When Alexander&#8217;s came to Wilkes-Barre, Brandon approached me and he wanted to help out and do something also for the community, so we came up with the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event,&#8221; he said of the idea.</p><p>About 20 individuals came through the door within the first hour alone, enjoying a hot slice of Dino&#8217;s and cracking jokes as they waited for Rice and two other stylists to finish the first round of clients.</p><p>In the midst of snapping some photos on her camera, Church on the Square member Donna Dietsch stopped and spoke to many attendees that came up to her. Dietsch started helping the homeless community about seven years ago, and enjoyed seeing more local businesses pitch in to help.</p><p>&#8220;This was just such a blessing for an opportunity to give them something else,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They don&#8217;t have a chance to get haircuts.&#8221;</p><p>Once he finished a clean shave on one client, Rice quickly cleaned up so the next person in line could come up to the chair. The salon owner said he wants to participate in community outreach as much as possible, and he enjoys helping those down on their luck with something as simple as a fresh haircut.</p><p>&#8220;The salon (opened in March) downtown and I kind of just wanted to establish myself and the brand as a business that wanted to be a part of the community,&#8221; Rice said. &#8220;We wanted to give back any chance that we could, and I just thought it was a cool opportunity to kind of spend some time with these guys, hear their stories, clean them up and get them feeling good about themselves.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Katie Stambaugh trims around the ears of Jason Watts, 33, of Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc2_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Katie Stambaugh trims around the ears of Jason Watts, 33, of Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Don Boyer has his beard trimmed by Leah Orlando on Sunday at the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc5_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Don Boyer has his beard trimmed by Leah Orlando on Sunday at the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc1_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Brandon Rice cuts the hair of Lester Webster, 52, of Edwardsville, during the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square on Sunday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc1_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Brandon Rice cuts the hair of Lester Webster, 52, of Edwardsville, during the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square on Sunday afternoon. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Katie Stambaugh trims the neck of Dennis Belles, 52, of Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc3_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Katie Stambaugh trims the neck of Dennis Belles, 52, of Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lester Webster, 52, of Wilkes-Barre, gets his hair cut Sunday during the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_hc4_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Lester Webster, 52, of Wilkes-Barre, gets his hair cut Sunday during the &#8216;Slices and Cuts&#8217; event at the Church on the Square in Wilkes-Barre. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Marcella Kester</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre businesses offer free haircuts and pizza for homeless