By Ketul PatelThe Daily Northwestern

An unusual deal brought customers into the quiet Church Street Barbershop on Monday afternoon: free haircuts with a prostate cancer screening.

Only the sound of “Beethoven’s Fifth,” the movie playing on a television in a corner, disrupted the peaceful shop at 1905 Church St., until Evanston resident Richard Ries cut in with a gust of cold air.

“Are you the barber?” he asked with a glance at shop owner Samuel Johnson.

A moment later they were teasing each other. Ries quipped that the cold weather meant Johnson couldn’t look at as many women passing by the shop. Johnson innocently ducked behind the fish tank.

It was typical barbershop banter, but Ries had stopped by for a more serious procedure. Before the electric razor buzzed Ries’ beard, phlebotomist Juanezetta Henry pricked his arm to draw a sample of blood to look for signs of prostate cancer.

The barbershop offered free prostate cancer screenings and a complimentary haircut to all men from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The screenings were offered by the Evanston’s Department of Health and Human Services and funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Ries said he took advantage of the same bargain about a year and a half ago.

“I wasn’t too scared,” he said of the needle. “I just closed my eyes.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health recommends that all men older than 50 and black men older than 40 get a prostate cancer screening.

Prostate cancer affects one in six men and is the most common form of cancer other than skin cancer, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Web site. The prostate produces seminal fluid, which helps sperm grow.

Henry administered a prostate-specific antigen screening at the barbershop. Prostate-specific antigen is a protein usually released in small amounts into the bloodstream, but it can reach a detectable level in blood when prostate cancer develops. If the screening shows traces of the protein, a biopsy is needed to diagnose whether the prostate cells are cancerous.

Henry said the barbershop provided a lighter environment than a doctor’s office.

“A lot of men don’t want to go to the doctor’s office,” she said. “But in the barbershop, people feel comfortable because they can talk with each other.”

Zollie Webb, the city’s health programs coordinator, said the program is used to reach out to black men by providing them with incentives for testing.

Prostate cancer is rarely diagnosed in men under the age of 40. Black men are 61 percent more likely than white men to develop the cancer. Black men are also 2.5 times more likely than white men to die from prostate cancer.

“The rate of mortality among black men is high, but they don’t want to come in (to get the screenings),” he said.

But Webb said the program has not attracted as many men as he would have liked.

“I would like to see about 50 guys come in,” Webb said. “But 20 for a cold day like today – that’s not too bad. It’s hard to get men to come out.”

Johnson said it was important to provide the service to inform men about the risks of prostate cancer.

“Somebody in the neighborhood has to do it,” he said. “The only place you can get men together is at the church or the barbershop.”

Ries said the program is integral to remind men to take care of their health.

“With screenings, you keep on putting them off and putting them off,” Ries said.

Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].