In Sara Evans' country song "Suds In The Bucket," she sings about "all the biddies in the beauty shop / Gossip goin' non-stop / Sippin' on pink lemonade."
At Sassy Hair and Nails in Newton Falls, they're a lot more productive, even if it does mean talking about Rice Krispies treats for half an hour.
Of course, those treats - whether they come out purple, pink, frosted or flower-shaped after all that discussion - are for the midnight snack at the Lordstown/Newton Falls Relay For Life, set for June 11 and 12.
Article Photos
Don Peters, left with hat, and John Scheidly walk the survivors’ lap at the 2009 Lordstown / Newton Falls Relay For Life. They are family of Sassy Hair and Nails team captain Lori Scheidly.
Owner Lori Scheidly is the captain of the team that started about three years ago, but she says they all share the duties. Scheidly inherited the shop from her mother, who died of lung and esophageal cancer.
In the same year, her coworker, Diane Kennedy of Newton Falls, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She is on her third round of chemotherapy and recently went on disability, although Scheidly couldn't bear to take her key to the shop back.
Kennedy originally thought she was having gall bladder problems, but by the time she was diagnosed and had surgery, two tumors - one the size of a football and the other softball sized - were removed, in some cases having to be peeled away from her other organs. She's been told she will be probably always be on chemotherapy.
Fact Box
WHAT: Lordstown /
Newton Falls Relay
WHEN: 6 p.m. June 11 to
6 p.m. June 12
WHERE: Newton Falls High School track, 909 1/2 Milton Blvd., Newton Falls
But Kennedy, 56, is pressing on, and she looks good.
"I'm OK most of the time," she said. "I'm trying to stay alive long enough for them to cure it."
Kennedy's creativity has resulted in team themes for two years. Last year, she made a striped quilt of teal and purple, the awareness colors for ovarian and all cancers, with butterflies appliqued throughout. So the team's theme was "Wings of Hope." They made $1,000 for cancer research selling raffle tickets for the quilt.
This year, Kennedy made a queen-size quilt with a theme of "Hope Grows." It features a basket of flowers appliqued in the center and surrounded by wide floral borders and rows of tiny triangles.
To go along with the garden theme, students in Newton Falls schools are making flowers to help decorate the group's tent.
"In getting the kids involved, we're hoping the kids will tell their parents and get more people to come out," said Sassy employee and team member Tammy McBride. The event happens after school is out for summer.
Throughout the year, the shop has had kitchen angels (made of towels) for sale and offered basket raffles to raise money.
Scheidly says the customers also help out and are on the team.
On a recent Tuesday around lunchtime, Teresa Young is getting her nails done by Scheidly while the women emphasize how much she's donated to the cause. "A miscellaneous of this and that and the other thing" is all Young will take credit for, though.
McBride begins a haircut on a talkative man, while another curler-adorned customer in the care of team member Cheryl Hudson finds out about baskets and treats.
The shop livens up more as Britta Thompson of Braceville bursts in, bearing a picnic basket and asking what else to get to make it raffle-worthy.
"I come here all the time," she says. "This is the greatest place in town."
"We have wonderful patrons," Scheidly said. "They are awesome."
Speaking of town, the Bridge to Bridge Merchants team, consisting of eight businesses in downtown Newton Falls, is planning to paint the town purple the week of Relay.
"We're just encouraging the downtown businesses to decorate their windows and storefronts in purple," said Cyndi Hogue of the Brew Basket and captain of the team. "We want people to know when they come through town that it's Relay week."
The Brew Basket already has paper decorations up, and moons and stars that people have purchased will be hung, as well.
Hogue wants people to know they don't have to be on a team to participate in Relay - it is free and open to the community, she said, pointing out the entertainment and kids' activities planned, as well as the chance to win a number of raffles.
"It's just a wonderful family event," Hogue said.
Also involved in the upcoming Relay is a team from Dental Associates of Newton Falls Inc.
Debbie Blazek of Lake Milton, an orthadontic assistant who was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of last year, said the women in the office rallied around her.
"I came back to work after three surgeries, I was still healing," she said. "The office was decorated, ready for Relay."
Blazek said she had 30 sessions of radiation, during which she continued to work. Her coworkers lifted things, walked patients to their rooms and pitched in any way they could. She's been "free and clear" since September.
"I think it took one of us within these four walls to really be touched by it," she said. "I think within three weeks they put the whole team together. It really said something about this group of people."
This year, the team's theme is "Star light, star bright, wish we had a cure tonight." It will involve stars, moons and, of course, a lot of glitter. They've included members of the local library's team, since they had to disband.
This team also raises money with baskets displayed in the office throughout the year. They sell bracelets and took part in a multi-team spaghetti dinner.
Blazek said last year she walked the first Relay lap and probably six to seven hours after that - she still had stitches at the time.
"I kind of tried to do a lap with each of my co-workers just to say thanks," she said. "This year, I think I'll be able to enjoy it more, be more relaxed. I think I was overwhelmed last year."