Longtime Wright City volunteer honored with ‘Key to the City’

Adam Rollins, Staff Writer
Posted 10/24/21

George Eckhoff, owner of George’s Barber Shop & Guns in Wright City, was honored this month with the first-ever presentation of the Key to the City award at the annual Strassenbash …

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Longtime Wright City volunteer honored with ‘Key to the City’

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George Eckhoff, owner of George’s Barber Shop & Guns in Wright City, was honored this month with the first-ever presentation of the Key to the City award at the annual Strassenbash festival.

As an evolution of the former Person of the Year award, Key to the City honors a community member who is recognized by their neighbors for their many contributions. The new award was granted entirely based on the number of nominations that were submitted during and before the Oct. 9 Strassenbash festival, said event organizer Marcella Holiway.

She explained that many of the nominations for Eckhoff were due to his 50 years as a local business owner and his community contributions in that time.

“He was one of the founding members of Strassenbash back in the mid-1980s,” Holiway stated. Eckhoff has volunteered to help at the festival almost every year since then, along with many events and fundraisers for other community nonprofits.

“I’ve been involved with pretty much everything in town through the years,” Eckhoff commented.

He explained that Strassenbash was originally started as a community celebration after the long and highly inconvenient reconstruction of the Interstate 70 overpass bridge at Elm Street – at that time, the only local bridge connecting the north and south of town.

“We called it ‘the bridge fiasco,’” Eckhoff recalled, saying he and several other business owners near the bridge put together the celebration that was originally at the four-way stop on Elm. “We just said ‘let’s have a street dance.’ So we had some German music, and we went to all the churches and nonprofits and asked them to put their stands up.”

He commented that making Strassenbash an annual festival has been an important way to bring community members together, let them get to know one another, and introduce new residents to what it means to live in Wright City.

That contribution is only a small part of Eckhoff’s history with Wright City. This year happens to be the 50th anniversary of opening his small barbershop on North Locust Street. Over the years, the barber and shop have both been steadfast supporters of the community and its people.

“George needs a revolving door on his building,” Holiway commented, explaining that many longtime residents know and confide in him. “I think everybody considers George their close friend.”

“There’s been a lot of happiness and a lot of sorrow in here,” confirmed George, while sitting in the shop chair where he’s cut the hair of Wright City residents for 50 years. “That’s just part of small town living. ... The only thing that bothers me is when they ask me a question that I don’t know the answer for.”

Over the years, Eckhoff has seen the makeup of the community change from having many agricultural families to being more suburban. He said he likes to see positive changes that new people bring, and hopes that Wright City will someday soon see new growth in local businesses and jobs.

To be both a successful business owner and a good community member, Eckhoff gives the same broad advice: You’ve got to show up, be involved, be consistent, and put in the hard work.

For general life advice that the venerable barber says he wishes he followed, he thinks everyone should write a daily journal.

“Something good, something bad, or something funny’s going to happen every day,” Eckhoff said.

Key to the City, Strassenbash, George Eckhoff

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