Keith Hedman started cutting hair on the Island 34 years ago. His first day was the Tuesday after the infamous 1981 basketball game when the Islanders lost in a fluke decision to Shadle Park High School after a controversial call.

“It was a day in this town many will never forget, including me,” he said.

He first started at “The Other Place,” a barber shop near where the North-end Rite Aid is now. Islanders of a certain age will remember it, he said.

He later moved to a place at South-end where he worked between 1985 and 1995. Then he heard that barber Larry Miller was looking to sell his business at 3022 78th Ave, S.E.

That very afternoon he contacted Mr. Miller and drove from the South-end to leave him a deposit. His rent was $1,700.

He then set to remodeling the place, changing out the plumbing, electrical, lighting and more, finishing in 17 days.  He has been there ever since.

But since those early days, he has gone through a series of leases and rent hikes.

“Rents have gone up steadily since 2002, when the first of the multi-story apartment buildings went up in the Town Center,” he explained.

Despite that, Hedman said his landlords are good people. But now, he is moving off the Island.

Two years ago, Hedman faced a seven percent increase each year in a new lease — pushing his rent to $5,500 for this year. It was then that  he made plans to leave when his current lease ends. That date is April 1 this year.

Now, once again, he is renovating a space for a new shop, this time at his home in Sammamish. He said he will have plenty of clients from the Island who will follow him there. Anyone you ask at the salon readily agrees. It is a done deal.

His clientele is multigenerational. Many of his clients have been with him for years. Some started off as children brought in by their parents who are now parents themselves bringing in their children, he said.

He has followed Islander youth from grade school to high school, and beyond. Many still stop by to get their hair cut.

The rhythm of the year revolved around the Island’s culture. There are the Saturday cuts — the regular clients. The seasons for back to school and kids home from college — whose parents would beg to get them in for a cut before they headed back. His schedule could be busy and hectic in late summer and holidays, or for Prom and Homecoming.

Over the years, he has been involved with the high school sports teams such as boys basketball, lacrosse and swim teams.

On several occasions, coaches and team boosters would bring an entire team down to the shop for a ritual haircutting. Large amounts of pizza would be brought in.

Hedman and two employees once did 22 cuts in a single night.

He was happy to help out, he said, mostly to save  the athletes from themselves.

“They would try to cut each other’s hair or worse,” he explained.,

There was a series of trends, he said. The lacrosse team went for mohawks, the swim team wanted bleached hair — which sometimes turned orange. He just had to intervene, he laughed.

Hedman, 57, has commuted from Sammamish, near where grew up, since he began doing hair on the Island. He graduated from high school in 1975 and promptly went to barber school.

After a couple of years skiing in California, he returned home to begin his career as a stylist, businessman,  friend and confidant.

Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, who has had Hedman cut his hair for 13 years, says that he gets to Costco in Issaquah often enough to drop by the new place. Another man waiting for his hair cut nodded in agreement.

He is getting ready to sell some of his fixtures — taking photos to post on Craigslist.

He says he has enjoyed being part of the community. He loves to encourage the kids.

Having his work at his home won’t change his routine, he said.

He is an early riser, up by 5 or 5:30 a.m. to get to work.

“I haven’t set an alarm clock in years,” he said.