More Scott VanLeeuwen July 11, 2005 years before he took over ownership 30 years ago. "I didn't want a real job," he said. "I tried construction and all that hard work. It wasn't for me." Barber seats galore And all along with the barber chairs. He's been collecting the chairs since he was a teenager. His first chair came from his grandfather. The man was Morgan County's first barber, said VanLeeuwen, also a Morgan native. He still leases land near Coalville for hunting rights and to run cattle. He currently owns seven vintage barber chairs, costing up to $1,500 six in storage, one on display in the shop. "I kind of just got fixated on them," he said. "They're amazing. Now that's a seat." The one at the store, he picked up in Las Vegas three years ago. It had been in storage for decades. "The last guy to sit in it was shot to death," he said. "They retired the chair I guess that's why. That's the story that came with the chair." Adorning antlers Each of the trophy animals mounted on the walls come with stories. All were brought in by friends "whose wives won't let 'em put 'em up in the living room," VanLeeuwen said. "I guess it's not politically correct. So if anyone asks, I tell them this one," pointing to a giant buck "was hit by a bus full of animal rights activists." There's another sign in a rack of handguns. It reads: "We don't call 911 here." But VanLeeuwen noted in his long run on 25th Street, with its turbulent past, he's never been robbed face to face, although the shop has been broken into a few times. "I've been asked a few times, 'What would you do if I told you this was a holdup?' "I said I'd give you the money. But you've still got to make it out of the store.'" He tries to be a big burly bear, a scary guy. But he's just a nice guy with a big beard." GEORGE WHITING, Historic 25th Street merchant Street's aura He's seen Historic 25th Street in its "rough-and-tumble" era without the current lineup of antique stores, trendy restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and so on. "It was all bars back then," he said. "But I can honestly say that I have enjoyed 45 years on the street and have never really had a serious problem." The city, he finds, seems to trouble with its past, a WWII heyday of brothels, alcohol and gambling fueled by the scores of troop trains stopping daily at Union Station on 25th Street's west end. Through the Historic 25th Street Association, businesses want to capitalize on the color of the street, he said, but officials won't allow package beer sales. "We're already living on that reputation, but you can't walk out of a store with a six-pack on this street," he said. Political bent He tends to stay out of Ogden politics, sitting instead on the Marriott-Slaterville City Council. "Utah's only open-space city," he calls his home, a city full of houses on acre lots. "I'll be cookin' with the bishop" for the town's Fourth of July celebration, he noted. "Guess I'll have to watch my swearing. He knows I swear a little bit. He's on the City Council too." VanLeeuwen waits on an old friend and her daughter, the daughter ring shopping. "Does she know about us?" he quips to the mother. Then a little girl, one of many kids milling about the busy shop, comes to the counter, whispering, "Scott, where's your restroom?" The mother and daughter are settling on a ring. "Don't tell anyone about the deal I'm giving you," he chortles, standing under the 10 pound rainbow trout on the wall. He caught it, and mounted it on the wall a few feet from the 69 pound salmon his son Rick caught. Like wife Karen, son Rick works at the store. He is taking over ownership as VanLeeuwen meanders into retirement. Bet on the shop staying at 120 25th Street for another 45 years. Descriptive friends "He's a toasted marsh-mallow," lifelong friend Tom Beasley said. "Crusty on the outside, but warm and gooey on the inside." "He tries to be a big burly bear, a scary guy," fellow 25th Street merchant George Whiting said. "But he's just a nice guy with a big beard."