STANFORD — If you need a haircut, Don Anderson may be the guy to see. The Stanford barber was celebrated Tuesday by friends and family for being in business for 60 years. His barbershop on Central Avenue in Stanford was busier than usual Tuesday - not with people getting their hair cut, but with people cutting up with owner Don Anderson.
On May 5, he will have been in business at his barbershop for exactly 60 years.
Thanks to the Beatles - yes, that famous rock band - for almost 50 of those years he has also been going to Denton one day a week to cut hair for extra business. "With the Beatles coming to America, it stopped haircuts as we knew them. They wanted a different style, which I knew nothing of,” Anderson explained. "I started losing my trade here, so I started going to Denton."
Of all the customers that have sat in his chair over the years, there is one particularly memorable one: "I (gave a 450 pound guy a shave.) I was shaking like everything and people were looking in the window. He was the coach for the Beaumont, Texas team at the WIT Tournament down in Lewistown. That was really something,” Anderson said.
Current customer Walt Goodman was surprised when he learned of Tuesday's celebration. "(It's) very nice. When I heard that, I couldn't believe it because I didn't know he was that old,” said Goodman.
Anderson's son Scott organized the barbershop bash: "There are a lot of people who stay in business a long time, there are a lot of people who will have a business for a long time but to say that they've had one business, that same business, for 60 years in the same town is pretty significant,” Scott said. "I know statistically, percentage-wise, there's not many people that can say they've been cutting hair for that many years so I thought it needed to be noticed."
Judging by the number of people in attendance, the hugs, and the handshakes, the community agrees.
Don planned to keep his regular hours until at least March of 2022 when he hits his 50th anniversary of going to Denton, but then will likely cut back the number of days he works.
