MARYSVILLE — When Zach Gobel saw the brochure calling out to “daddies of little girls,” the timing was right.
Gobel’s wife had told him a few days earlier he needed to learn how to do their daughter’s hair. That brought the Arlington dad and 4-year-old Olivia to Marysville’s Jennings Park on drizzly Saturday morning.
“I didn’t have a clue how to braid until today,” Gobel said. “I’ve tried, but her mom always comes in and does it better.”
They were one of five father-daughter pairs getting a crash course from a local stylist. Dubbed “Daddy Does Hair,” it was the city of Marysville’s first such workshop.
Gregg Grzeskowiak, of Mount Vernon, said his sister-in-law sent him an ad for the class as a joke. For him and his 4-year-old daughter, Gracie, though, it was seriously worth the $10 registration fee.
“I’m a single father, so in the morning I have to get her ready for day care,” Grzeskowiak said.
For Don Tanner, of Arlington, it was quality time with 4-year-old Kathryn.
“That — and I’m out of practice doing girls’ hair,” said Tanner, who has five other daughters and six sons.
They all went through pony tail basics and fancier variants, plus bobby pins, curling irons and flat irons.
Early on, instructor Christy Synsteby posed a question: “So have you braided people’s hair before?”
Muffled responses followed.
“I figured there would be more nos than yeses.”
Synsteby works in town at Studio Bello Hair Salon.
Styling hair comes naturally to her; she’s been doing it since elementary school. It’s a skill she picked up, perhaps, from her hair-stylist mother.
She wasn’t sure how the inaugural class would turn out, but left pleased.
“We had a good response today,” she said, “so I think we’ll do another one.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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