Tiffany Dauphin graduated from Mr. Bernard’s School of Hair Fashion a year ago and now she has her dream job at a salon in Bath. Things worked out pretty well for Dauphin but on Wednesday, she couldn’t have been more morose.

With the news of Bernard’s abrupt closing, Dauphin understands how many people are left scrambling.

The students, many of them single mothers, are now left without work but still owing federal loans.

The instructors, whom Dauphin calls “amazing and brilliant people,” will be forced to look for work in a very tight job market.

And the elderly, who made up perhaps 60 percent of the school’s clients, are also having to look elsewhere.

“I met some of the most amazing elderly people there,” Dauphin said. “Some of them had been going to Bernard’s for 20 or 30 years. A lot of them have fixed budgets and getting their hair done was their social time. Everybody knew everybody.”

In recent days, some of those older folks have been showing up at Bernard’s, a few clutching gift certificates received as Christmas gifts, only to find the business dark, the doors locked.

“I just bought my 83-year-old mother a $100 gift card for Christmas to Bernard’s,” Gary Morris of Lewiston said. “She is now very upset that she has lost the gift. Will there be refunds?”

Like many others, including the media, Morris was finding it difficult to get answers from the owners of the business.

“I have left messages for them both on phone and email, as well as their Facebook page,” Morris said. “No response. I know it is not much compared to the people that lost tuition but for my mom, it is a lot.”

“It’s so unfortunate for everybody,” Dauphin said.

Perhaps mostly so for the students of the school, many of whom had completed hours of classroom work with the help of federal loans.

“I just can’t imagine investing all of that time and then being told you can’t graduate,” Dauphin said. “A lot of them are single mothers and now they’re out in the cold. It was so sudden.”

Dauphin was saddened by the news, but she certainly wasn’t encouraging anyone to give up. Too much good has come out of Bernard’s, she said. Dauphin knows many former students who have gone on to open their own salons with great success. She knows one who went on to Hollywood where she now styles hair for celebrities, including that of the artist formerly known as Prince.

“There are some incredibly successful people who have graduated from there,” Dauphin said. “I just hope they don’t get too discouraged and that they’ll continue to pursue their careers. Even if you have to travel out of town, you’ve got to do it.”

She acknowledges that this won’t be easy for some. The closest city to offer Bernard’s level of training is Portland and a lot of students have no way to make that trip.

A lot of the students were getting by on their federal loans and now those will be gone. And then there are the instructors, who had jobs before Christmas but who now find themselves unemployed.

“There are teachers who have been there for years and years,” Dauphin said. “They’re brilliant people with incredible knowledge. I wouldn’t have the career I have without them.

“I’ve done really well in my first year,” said Dauphin, who works at Kelley’s Salon in Bath. “I have my dream job right now, and I wouldn’t have it at all if not for Bernard’s.”

On Wednesday, there were more questions than answers about the abrupt closing of the school, which affected approximately 90 students in both Bangor and Lewiston. The students were scrambling to adjust to the sudden upheaval while instructors began the search for new jobs.

“That place has reached so many people,” Dauphin said.

There was at least one glimmer of hope. According to MPBN News, at least one area hair school was offering to take in those students who were left without a classroom after Bernard’s closing.

[email protected]