Tribute to Jean Vallon: a visionary celebrated for his legacy in Cazevieille

Sonia Vallon receiving the honorary document, under the photo of her late husband who did so much for the town and the Grand Pic. PCa

Under the aegis of Mayor Thomas Bay, some sixty elected officials, friends and relatives gathered to salute the legacy left by the former elected official who led the town for 34 years. Posthumously, Jean Vallon received the distinction of honorary mayor, while his career marked by the creation of a hairdressing empire continues to inspire generations.

With their hair blowing in the wind, as a final wink, around sixty Cazevieillains, elected officials and friends of Pic Saint-Loup took part, on this Thursday, October 3, in the ceremony led by Mayor Thomas Bay. It was Sonia Vallon, the wife of the late elected official, who received the honorary mayor distinction from the hands of the sub-prefect of Lodève, Eric Suzanne, awarded posthumously.

Because the "captain of industry", according to the sub-prefect, was also mayor of the town of 230 souls for 34 years and four terms, from 1989 until that night of February 28, 2023 when he would succumb, at the age of 73, from the consequences of a long illness.

"Jean Vallon's legacy continues to guide us"

"I joined his team in 2001,confides Thomas Bay. I was an architecture student. He already had an atypical vision for Cazevieille."

In his more formal speech, the mayor saluted "the Nation's tribute to a visionary who knew how to combine modernity and tradition to transform the village while preserving its soul."
Listing the structuring projects for the commune or the Grand Pic, Thomas Bay emphasized: "Jean Vallon's legacy continues to guide and inspire inhabitants."

"A loving and admiring father"

Senator Jean-Pierre Grand underlined "the rarity of this tribute from the State for a local elected official", also confiding the part "of mystique" of Jean Vallon : “I was watching him more than listening to him”.

Senator Hussein Bourgi rekindled several memories with his friend of 32 years, including “the inauguration of the Docks du GR (restaurant created in Saint-Martin-de-Londres in January 2023 by Jean Vallon with Guy Giner) where he introduced me to his son Léopold. I saw a loving and admiring father."

Son Léopold in Cambridge

Sonia Vallon, too, confided her emotion: "This ceremony touches me enormously. Jean has breathed new life and a strong identity into Cazevieille."

As for Léopold, also in the adventure of the Docks du GR and greatly absent that evening ? “He went to hotel school but more in management, , Sonia continues. And he couldn't be there tonight: he's continuing his training at Cambridge." The Vallon DNA lives on.

Mayor Thomas Bay: “The Nation's Tribute to a Visionary Who Knew How to Combine Modernity and Tradition to Transform the Village."”/> combining modernity and tradition to transform the village.” PCa

An entrepreneurial adventure

Born in Ganges, Jean Vallon never left his Languedoc. “I prefer to be the first in Montpellier than the third elsewhere”, he liked to repeat. After a CAP and a professional hairdressing certificate, this tireless worker created his first salon in Montpellier, rue de la Méditerranée, in 1967. The beginning of a wonderful adventure. His sense of fashion, aesthetics and marketing led him to open nearly 50 hair salons in Occitanie and Paca, but also in Spain and Russia. His group had up to 265 employees, generating a turnover of 12 million euros. In 1990, Jean Vallon founded the Perform Hair Education academy, on Boulevard du Jeu-de-Paume in Montpellier, a training center welcoming both beginners and professionals. And it was only in 2018, on the eve of his 70th birthday, that the gifted entrepreneur would hand over to his three associates.

The moving ceremony brought together around sixty elected officials, friends and relatives to pay tribute to the legacy left by the former mayor. PCa

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