How many miles of Concord's hair has Pauline Arms cut, curled and colored over the past 40 years? Surely, something on the order of the distance to the moon and back. At the end of October, Pauline, owner of Russo's Hair Design on Thoreau Street, will be retiring. Hanging up her scissors. Shelving her curlers. Retiring her color brush. Taking no more trips to that moon!Soon she will be picking up another type brush for more hours of her day: her paintbrush. Pauline is a delightful painter who often depicts macroscopic views of flowers. A fellow gardener, I've always enjoyed seeing whatever new piece she has hanging on the wall of her shop. Not that any one stays there long -- they are usually quickly snapped up by someone who's fallen in love with the warm, full-of-life images she paints.
And that's much my experience of being Pauline's customer the past few years. She's always warm and full of life, pleasant and down-to-earth as she trims my hair, or magically returns it to its <ahem> natural color.
Sure, we have zillions of hairdressers in Concord, but Russo's has been the most straight-forward and unpretentious of the lot, which I have valued enormously. Pauline, Grace and Russo have always operated with the utmost kindness and gentleness toward their (often elderly and sometimes frail) clientele. They each have steady customers they've seen every week for years. The place will be missed.
Contact Russo's during the next month to find out Grace and Russo's plans, and to say goodbye to Pauline.
