Elvis Presley was crooning hymns on a tape player. The hair dryer was setting the curls of a customer. And Kay Halterman was in her element.

Owner of the same Ottawa beauty salon for 60 years, Halterman just celebrated her 85th birthday -- and she has no intentions of laying aside her scissors.

"Now, it's a pleasure and a hobby," she said.

Halterman -- the only living charter member of the Starved Rock Cosmetology Association -- remains up-to-date on the changes in her business, including new techniques and advances in chemical treatments. Though her continuing education courses are not required since she practices so few hours, she still takes the classes to keep herself up to date.

"I don't have to," she said. "But I want to."

And, while things have advanced in the world of cosmetology, Halterman has also witnessed life changes for herself and her clients.

"When I first started, we talked about where the best bands were playing. Then, it was who was engaged to who. Then, the wedding gowns, receptions and weddings. Then, it was the PTA and campfire groups. Now, it's where to get the best buys on medications," she said with a laugh.

Orphaned at a young age, Halterman was the youngest of seven children and grew up in southern Illinois. She lived with an aunt and uncle after both of her parents died in their 40s, then moved to Ottawa to live with one of her brothers when she was 16 years old.

"When I came to Ottawa, I thought it was the prettiest town in the whole wide world," she recalled. "I still do. It keeps getting prettier and prettier. I'm so proud of what the garden club and volunteers have done with the parks."

Halterman first opened the door to her shop at 423 Taylor St. in 1944. During the 1950s, Halterman expanded her salon, adding additional chairs and hair-washing stations that allowed her to employ five stylists. In the years following, she was active in both regional cosmetology organizations and her community, sponsoring a contestant in the Miss Ottawa pageant each of the 25 years the contest existed.

Eventually, she scaled back her operation. By the 1990s she employed only a part-time assistant and reduced her hours to four days each week, though she still takes appointments for any of her 25 clients who might need a cut or style on a different day.

"I'm flexible when they have trips or a wedding or a funeral," she said.

A failed first marriage left her with what she considers her greatest blessings: her son Jerry and daughter Judy. She later married Ralph Halterman, and her blessings have only increased as grandchildren and great-grandchildren have joined the family.

And, of course, there is Halterman's extended family -- her loyal customers whose lives have intertwined with hers during her years in business. Their photos hang on the walls of her shop right alongside those of family members. Halterman fondly pointed out the photo of a customer who had recently passed away, shortly after celebrating her 100th birthday.

"I cut hair for five generations of that family," she recalled.

It is that familiarity with her customers that keeps her coming into work.

"I keep up with their families, and as their kids get married and move away, they still come in once in a while for me to do their highlights. I still love to do it," she said. "When they were little, I did their first haircuts. Then it was prom and weddings. They followed me and I was so blessed."

But even with the showers of blessings there were the occasional thunderstorms.

"That doesn't mean everybody who came here was happy," she said. "If I hadn't made mistakes, I never would have advanced."

Customers sometimes brought in magazine photos hoping to emulate a certain look. Halterman had to muster all of her diplomacy skills when the customer's features did not match those of the model.

"Communication. That is the secret of it all," she said. "I have to try the best way I can to tell them something else would be more flattering to them."

Halterman recalled a particularly difficult moment when a customer came to her shop to dye her red hair blonde because her husband had mentioned that he liked blonde hair.

"Now we have these quick color lifts, but then she had to make three appointments before I could get it up to blonde and not an orange," she said. "I finally got her to be blonde, and when her husband saw it he didn't like it. He hadn't meant for her to be blonde. We had to tint it back."

In addition to serving her customers, Halterman also believes in giving back to the community.

Her proudest moment of recognition, she said, came in 1989 when the folks at Friendship House awarded her its Golden Phoenix award. Halterman not only offered the residents there free haircuts, she also taught them ways to style their own hair.

Halterman also volunteers her time to the "Look Good ... Feel Better" program for the American Cancer Society. The program offers patients going though chemotherapy a free wig and Halterman works with local patients to properly fit the hairpiece, cutting and styling it to their preferences.

"I try to make it as comfortable as possible, but almost everyone prefers their own hair," she said.

This contribution is truly a labor of love for Halterman since it is often painful for her to alter the wigs for longtime customers who are facing a battle with cancer. Her eyes misted over as she displayed her most recent work, a wig with a more contemporary cut for a younger customer.

"When they have come to you for all of these years, you want to do everything you can for them," she said.

Halterman keeps a collection of photographs and knickknacks from her clients in her shop, including their contributions to her angel collection. Some are homemade, some are from locations far away, but all are special reminders of their appreciation for her and her services.

These ties to her customers keep her going to her shop each week, helping her customers find flattering styles, especially for those dealing with age-induced hair loss, and giving her best to everyone who walks through her door.

"Through the trials and tribulations and happiness, I have become a part of their lives and they certainly have become part of mine," she said. "They are not just my financial patrons. With this little bit of work and how much space I have, the means don't meet the end, but I don't care about that part.

"It keeps these fingers going, and I'll keep going until God tells me he's ready for me to lay down my comb, brush, and shears."