Scholarship Bennie M. Kline Endowment

Bennie Kline was born in 1907 in Indiana and moved to Mancelona when he was just eight months old. His father was Benjamin Kline and his mother was Emma Myers Kline. He left Mancelona in the fall of 1921, after living on a farm for many years there. Their next destination was Detroit, where he attended barber college. He graduated from the eight-week course and apprenticed with a barber near 6 and 7 Mile Roads.

He later established a six-chair shop in Detroit, along with a beauty operator. After a while he could not make expenses meet, so he moved north again to Mancelona in 1930. On June 2, 1931, Kline became the Elk Rapids barber, starting where the former Mike's Barber Shop was. At the time he charged 35 cents for haircuts and offered a shave for 15 cents. He had two employees and he paid them 75 percent of what they made.

Scholarship Requirements:

• Applicants must be pursuing or planning to pursue a trade or technical career
• Applicants must be a Elk Rapids High School graduating senior or be a resident of the Elk Rapids Area
• Individuals who have been out of school for a period of time and would like to go back or have recently gone back to school are encouraged to apply

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