Appliance Store Gives Its Customers a Real Trimming
--Tom Peterson used his head and came up with a way to promote the grand opening of his TV-appliance store in Portland, Ore. He offered a free crew cut to anyone who came to the opening. “We gave out about 50 free haircuts,” he said. “We are going to try it again. In fact, we are already booked right now for next Sunday and half-booked for the following Sunday. I may have to hire more barbers.” Peterson hired three barbers to give free flattops, reminiscent of the 1950s. They set up shop in the store and worked non-stop for five hours. “We had men as old as 70 and lots in the 35-year-old range,” Peterson said. “And we had lots of teen-agers.” Michael Ipox, 35, and his son both lined up for a haircut. “I wasn’t going to get one,” Ipox said. “But my boy talked me into it. I said, ‘I’ll do it if you’ll do it.’ ”
--Eloise Laino’s house may not clash with her historic neighborhood, but it clashes with just about everything else. When Laino was denied permission by the Springfield, Mass., Historical Commission to put vinyl siding on her house, she vowed, “I’ll give them paint.” She did--pink and purple. The crowning touches on her protest are a yellow Pac-Man and a brown gingerbread man. Laino said she could not afford $12,450 for sandblasting and painting to stop her house from peeling. She said siding would cost $8,250. Commission Chairman Frances Gagnon said that his panel lacks jurisdiction over paint color but can take legal action against homeowners who attach siding without permission to houses in designated districts. The paint, he said, “isn’t to my personal taste . . . but it is her personal taste, I gather.”
--Betty Berry and Warren Gilson had lined up a preacher and ordered chilled Champagne, flowers, food and a limousine for their wedding. A day before the big event, however, they decided against tying the knot. Was it a case of the last-minute jitters? Not for the 78-year-old Berry and the 81-year-old Gilson. The couple said they were having too much fun dating and decided that love and marriage don’t necessarily mix. “I think maybe all along we thought the quickest way to kill any older relationship is to marry,” Berry said. The two, known as “Lovey” and “Dovey” at the Retirement Inn, a Dallas nursing home, had been engaged for a month, and friends credited their yearlong romance with putting more zest into the couple’s lives. “There definitely was more of a spring in his (Gilson’s) step,” said Kathleen Bolin, a manager at the home.
