STRICTLY BALLROOM
Keeping in ‘Loucks-step’
The first impression on meeting Denise and Alan Loucks is that they look way too young to have been married for 44 years and to have five grandchildren. Add to this that she has just won a series of major ballroom dancing awards and he is about to celebrate 45 years as the owner of The Gallery Hair Design in Smiths Falls, and it is clear that this is a couple with the gift of maximizing the joy in their lives.
His fascination with hairdressing and esthetics began when he was still in high school, he says. He spent his Saturdays and after-school hours working in the salon next to the menswear store his parents owned, going on to complete a 30-month apprenticeship after graduating and working long hours in the salon thereafter.
“Then,” says Loucks, “when the salon went up for sale, my mother encouraged me to buy it, saying that as I was working so hard, I might as well be working for myself.”
He took her advice and purchased the business in 1972 when he was just 19. “It’s worked out well,” he says with a smile. The salon has changed locations in the town several times, even being operated from the Loucks’ home when their three children were young. The most recent move to a free-standing building on Market Street was in 2015. But, Loucks emphasizes, the connection with the past remains. “I still have the same phone number and the original sinks, for instance.”
Along the way, he has extended his qualifications to become a professional makeup artist, taking on assignments in theatre makeup and working with a photographer friend to prepare subjects “from boudoir to casket.”
“Over time, you try to develop yourself a little more, and I was always interested in makeup and theatre,” says Loucks, who served on the board of the local theatre group — the Station Theatre — for a number of years. “I was around so much of the time that everyone thought I came with the place,” he jokes.
Makeup projects led to his becoming an image consultant, focused on improving the professional look of staff in various businesses. This, in turn, led to ownership of a womenswear store for a time.
“It just made it easier to custom order for clients of different sizes and shapes,” he says, adding that the continuing expansion of the hairdressing business — he also manages a second salon in the Best Western Hotel in Perth — just meant there was insufficient time for every professional activity.
And, his wife, Denise, has been by his side every step of the way. They met when her mother introduced them (a graphic example of mother knowing best) and married soon afterwards.
“The wedding was three days after my 18th birthday,” says Denise Loucks. “I was just a babe.”
Like her husband, she has expanded her horizons over the years. As well as becoming a hair stylist and partnering her husband in business, she has a Cordon Bleu Level 1 certificate and has taught cooking classes in private homes and in public outlets such as Mrs. McGarrigle’s in Merrickville.
Most recently, she distinguished herself in ballroom dancing, winning 24 of 32 dances in her category at the Candance competition in Ottawa. “It was a big surprise to me, because I had taken only eight hours of private lessons before going into the competition,” she says.
Although the couple has taken many dancing lessons together over the years, she dances with her coach, rather than with her husband, in the competitive arena.
“I love to dance,” says Alan Loucks, “but I don’t like the competitive side. Denise likes to have the qualification of knowing she is doing well. I’m OK with just doing it.”
“We know,” laughs his wife, adding, “I’m afraid that goes for bridge too.”
Both are keen bridge players and members of the Smiths Falls and Perth duplicate bridge clubs. “For Alan, dancing and bridge are pleasant ways to socialize and spend time together,” she says. “I am slightly more competitive.”
It was during a dance cruise to the Caribbean early this year with their dance coaches TL and Chris Rader of Ottawa-based Dance with TLC that she decided to enter her first dance competition.
“I really enjoy learning technique and style, and I want to know I’m doing well,” Denise says. “So I intend to take more lessons and go in for more competitions.”
Meanwhile, the couple has two big anniversaries to celebrate: their 44th wedding anniversary and the 45th anniversary of The Gallery Hair Design and Esthetics on Market Street in Smiths Falls.