Frank Forde deserves to smell the roses while he is alive

May 7, 2025

Though seemingly different, barbering and golfing have a few things in common.

They require focus, social interaction, a calm demeanour and the ability to manage stress which Franklin ‘Frank’ Forde has in abundance.

The septuagenarian house call grooming service and teaching kids and adults basic golf skills are still very much in demand.

From Castries, the capital of St. Lucia, Forde transitioned from a little barber in a small community to become the owner of one of the most popular barbershops in Canada’s largest city and a highly respected golf coach.

Frank Forde relaxing in a golf cart in the summer of 2015 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Once people realize you are a skilled hairstylist, word-of-mouth referrals lead to increased client bookings.

Before becoming a teenager, Forde spent Friday afternoons trimming his mute friend’s hair with his mother’s scissors.

Young boys in his community took notice and were soon lining up to get their hair styled.

“On Sunday mornings while having breakfast, they congregated at the bottom of the stairs,” Forde recalled. “I took them across the street under a mango tree. It was free and I was even prepared to pay them because I was so excited by what I was doing and the satisfaction derived from it.”

At age 21, his older sister -- Ivinia Forde -- invited him to come to Canada.

“She told our mother she was lonely and mom acquiesced,” said Forde who arrived in the city in early October 1967.

A few days later, she took him to Jamaican-born Solomon Willis who owned a barbershop on College St. near the West Indian Federation Club.

“When I introduced myself and told him I was from St. Lucia, he greeted me with ‘Hey Small Islander’ and inquired if there were barbershops where I came from,” recounted Forde. “He also asked if we had barber chairs like those in his shop. He was jovial and engaging, but we had to leave because he had a client.”

Prepared to take a different job temporarily, he spent a year with Toronto General Hospital in the Ingredients Control section while cutting hair on the side. It helped that he is a Seventh-day Adventist who encourages members to support one another.

On a streetcar on his way to see the late James Brown perform at Maple Leaf Gardens in November 1968, Forde passed by Willis’ barbershop.

Rekindling memories of his first visit, he went to the shop the next day.

“Solomon remembered me and asked, ‘Small Islander, where were you all the time?’,” he said. “He told me he was moving to Bathurst St. and asked me to join him.”

Excited to get what he wanted, Forde resigned from the hospital and joined the Golden Hair Clinic owner who passed away last month at age 90.

Ronald ‘Jimmy’ Wisdom, who died in 2019, also worked with Willis at the time.

While attending the YMCA to keep fit, a trainer encouraged Forde to start competitive running.

He joined the Etobicoke Huskies-Striders club, spending two years doing mainly cross-country events.

“The second year, I beat the guy who won the event the year before when I came in last,” said Forde. “I was determined to get the better of him this time which I did. After the race, he fell and was vomiting blood. When I alerted the coach that he was in bad shape, the man came over, looked at him and turned his back. He told me the guy was going to be all right. I didn’t know better then and walked away from the sport.”

After four years, he purchased a home and opened his first salon at Bathurst & Dupont Sts.

“I wanted to name it Frank’s Barbershop, but my partner (Elaine Brett was a model) at the time told me it sounded Italian and recommended Castries as the name,” he said. “Many St. Lucians told me they would not come to the establishment because they are not from Castries. It pained me to see that they were looking at such a small picture and could not see the good I was trying to do.”

A few years later, he relocated to Eglinton Ave. W. which is the hub of the Caribbean business community.

In 1981, the entrepreneur opened a second shop on Pape Ave.

Soon after the launch, Forde learnt that a cobbler from Antigua, Vernon Brookes, had a shoemaking business nearby.

“When I went and introduced myself, he said he was planning to come and see me,” he said. “He also told me that a dear friend, who was a police officer, was killed in the city the day before.”

Percy Cummins was gunned down on September 23, 1981 as he and his partner investigated a disturbance call on Symington Ave. The Barbadian-born officer, who succumbed to his injuries in hospital later that day, is the only Black Toronto Police officer to die in the line of duty.

As Forde prepared to leave after expressing condolences, Brookes extended a bowling invitation.

“While I respect every sport, I told him I would have to decline,” he said. “When Vern told me there were going to be nice girls there, I accepted the invite. I instantly enjoyed bowling because I got a kiss every time I got a strike. The group of mainly Barbadian immigrants was also fun to be around.”

After bowling for two years, Brookes invited Forde to a golf tournament.

“I turned the request down and he said, ‘Frank, do you remember it was the same thing you said about bowling’,” he said. “Some time passed and I thought he forgot about the invitation.”

That didn’t happen.

On the week of the tournament, Brookes called with a reminder.

“It was on Saturday which is a busy time for barbers,” Forde pointed out. “When I told him I never held a club, he insisted I come along with him to have fun. The night before the tournament, he showed up at my barbershop, saying he had clubs for me in his car.”

The first few hours practicing on the golf range at Markham Ave. & Shepherd Ave. were a nightmare for the neophyte.

“The people besides me balls were going up in the air while I could hardly get mine to move on the ground,” said the classical guitarist tutored by the late Eli Kassner who is considered the patriarch of the classical guitar. “When I finally made proper contact with the ball, Vern yelled ‘You got it’, adding ‘I will pick you up tomorrow’.”

The next day at the third hole, Brookes advised him after a few rounds to take the 7-iron.

“I did, the ball landed near the hole and guys started shouting ‘Birdie, Birdie’,” remembered Forde who fathered 13 children, one of whom is deceased. “I knew it was not a birdie because the ball did not go in the hole. It was however close enough for me to putt it in for the birdie that resulted in wild celebrations.”

Frank Forde and his daughters Suzette Vidale and Charlene Hines (r) in Septemnber 2022 (Photo contributed)

That shining moment made him believe golf is easy and that he had cracked the code.

However, reality soon set in and it was back to double bogeys and questioning his swing mechanics.

He had to wait two years to get another birdie.

Unlike competitive running and bowling which he gave up after a few years, golf’s mental game and the calmness on the course attracted Forde and he gravitated to the sport.

Frank Forde (l) and then St. Lucia Toronto Association president Ross Cadastre at the second Frank Forde charity golf tournament in July 2015 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Until 2019, he collaborated with the St. Lucia Toronto Association for six years to host an annual tournament that raised funds to assist children in the Caribbean island.

Forde achieved a perfect score on his golf certification exam which is rare and teaches the sport to kids and adults at Markham Golf Dome.

Jamaican-born Andrew Ximines is one of two golf professionals who benefitted from his tutelage.

A friend introduced the professional golfer and coach to Forde about 25 years ago.

“He told me to go and get some lessons from Frank,” Ximines said. “Right away, he recognized my work ethic and believed in me. We have had an amazing relationship and the life lessons that I have learnt from being around him are priceless.”

Frank Forde conducting a coaching clinic at the A99 Golf Club in Markham in 2014 (Photo contributed)

Castries, which closed during the pandemic, was more than just a place to get a haircut. It was a cultural hub and community space where people engaged in conversation about life, sports, music and everything in between.

It also fostered music which Dominican-born guitarist Everton ‘Pepe’ Ducreay loved when he joined the staff.

“When I came to Canada in 1979, I worked in a factory before a friend told me about Castries,” he said. “After learning that Frank played guitar, I was more than happy to get a job there in 1980.”

Ducreay, whose sister Eletra Ducreay was Miss Dominica 1981, was Castries’ longest-serving employee.

“Frank has a free spirit and he is calm and easy to get along with,” said the cousin of recording artist Osbourne ‘Ifield’ Joseph. “He loves Earl Klugh (American acoustic guitarist and composer) music and played it often on a record player in the barbershop. When I started strumming Klugh’s music on my guitar, Frank would say, ‘Pepe, nice man’.”

When Visions of Science executive director Francis Jeffers relocated from Dominica in 1972, he looked for a barbershop catering to the Black community.

“I wanted something relatable, so it was natural that I went to Castries once I learnt of its existence,” he said. “When I found out that my schoolmate Pepe was there, my comfort level increased. There was very much an Eastern Caribbean flavour in that setting and you often heard some Creole or someone strumming on a guitar. It was such a pleasant experience to be in that space.”

Retired Ontario Court judge Greg Regis met Forde almost six decades ago as a young barber working in Carrington Bousquet’s barbershop and photography store in St. Lucia.

“We reconnected years later in Toronto, by which time he had established Castries Barbershop,” the province’s first Black regional senior judge said. “Frank is very kind and caring and his birth country is remarkably close to his heart. He loves to paint and most of his artwork has to do with St. Lucia. When he was cutting my hair recently, he talked about the St. Lucia community in the Greater Toronto Area needing to find a way to bring Julien Alfred to the city to showcase her.”

She is the first St. Lucian to win an Olympic gold medal, achieving the feat in the 100-metre sprint at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Historian and curator Sheldon Taylor said Forde is a mentor who cares about young people.

“He did everything for a group of us in the early 1970s,” said the former National Black Coalition of Canada regional chair. “He set a good example. The other thing is that people forget he was a successful entrepreneur because he is so low-key. In that role, he made quiet contributions to the community.”

Archipelago Entertainment is honouring Forde at the Nyam Comedy Cabaret Bad and Bold Face Edition event on May 17 at Spade Bar & Lounge, 3580 McNicoll Ave. in Scarborough.

The event starts at 7 p.m. and the price of admission to the dinner and show, which includes St. Lucian soca artist Carlton Roberts’ 2025 carnival music launch, is $45.

“Barbershops and hairdressing salons are vital community hubs and anchors,” said Archipelago founder & artistic director Rhoma Spencer. “I was intrigued by Castries because many members of the Pan-Caribbean diaspora found themselves in that space. I just felt that we should big up the person behind that business as he advances in age.”

Far too often, flowers are given to the deceased more than to the living.

Forde deserves to smell his roses while he is still with us.