<\/p>\n
Tony Gallegos estimates he\u2019s worn out 20 pairs of shears during the 43 years he\u2019s cut hair at College Plaza Hair Design.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t be going through a 21st pair; he plans to retire June 13.<\/p>\n
After Gallegos, a Vietnam War-era draftee who served in West Germany, got out of the Army in 1967, he wanted to be his own boss.<\/p>\n
He saw working as a barber as his best bet. He had family and friends in the business, and a barber\u2019s chair seemed a good fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used my veterans benefits to pay for barber college,\u201d the 73-year-old Durango native said.<\/p>\n
Forty-three years at College Plaza are testament that he made the right choice.<\/p>\n
The business allowed him to build an adobe house between Ignacio and Bondad and raise three children.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Colorado Barber College in Denver, he spent two years as an apprentice to legendary Denver barber Walter Young, who ran the The Upper Cut on East Colfax Avenue from 1969 to 2009.<\/p>\n
After his stint in Denver, Gallegos returned to Durango.<\/p>\n
He worked a few years at the Sanitary Barber Shop, which was on Main Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets, \u201cjust down from the Woolworth\u2019s.\u201d Then, after the Main Avenue fire in August 1974, he worked briefly with longtime Durango barber Amador Tucson at Tucson\u2019s Barber Shop, near the Old Main Post Office. He opened College Plaza Hair Design in 1976, when the shopping strip was built.<\/p>\n
He has remained at College Plaza with the help of his wife, Nora, ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to miss seeing the patrons, keeping up with their lives, but time marches on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tucson, 79, said Gallegos is making the smart decision to retire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even want to plan to retire,\u201d Tucson said. \u201cMaybe when I\u2019m 100. There is going to come a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gallegos never had much use for advertising.<\/p>\n
His business model relied on regulars and neighborhood business. By word of mouth, he said, the message gets around that he was a pretty fair barber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to take care of them the best I could. I guess I accomplished that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe main thing is to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Ashburn, who has visited Gallegos for his haircuts since moving from Denver in 1974, wandered in Thursday for a haircut.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave my son his first haircut. He gave my grandson his first haircut,\u201d Ashburn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be able to tell you how my trip to Alaska went,\u201d Ashburn told Gallegos after learning he\u2019d be looking for a new barber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll have to get your number,\u201d Gallegos told him.<\/p>\n
Gallegos said it\u2019s visits like the one Ashburn\u2019s planning to Alaska that have retirement beckoning.<\/p>\n
Nora and he visited Alaska once \u201cbut only for a week.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019d like to go for a longer time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nora said she looks forward to a slower pace and traveling with no particular plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust visit a place, and when you get tired of it move on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A good chunk of Gallegos\u2019 clientele wandered through College Plaza\u2019s doors after moving to the area or during their time at Fort Lewis College.<\/p>\n
Gallegos said Durango, with its plentiful outdoor opportunities, cultural attractions and FLC, is a good home, and he\u2019s benefited from a growing population.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of kids at FLC, they want to stay,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll find jobs, or they\u2019ll make their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than a few FLC students have marveled at his 1950s cash register.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey ask how it works. I tell them you push in the numbers then pull the crank. They say, \u2018What, without electricity?\u2019\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cKids can\u2019t make change. They need a computer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barbershops, Gallegos said, functioned as early community centers.<\/p>\n
Fishing and hunting are the most popular subjects for banter at College Plaza.<\/p>\n
Political discussions, he said, are more amicable at a barbershop than almost anywhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always \u2018You have your opinion, and I have mine,\u2019 and the voting took care of everything else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Veterans causes remain close to Gallegos\u2019 heart since he left the Army.<\/p>\n
He has offered free haircuts to veterans during the Four Corners Veterans Stand Down Day, and Gallegos said he likely will offer free haircuts for the event after he closes his shop.<\/p>\n
But now, it\u2019s time slow down.<\/p>\n
He remembers visiting a castle in Kohlberg, Germany, that included a giant clock built in 1492 \u201cthat still kept good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a beauty, an art piece really,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was amazing it still worked. I\u2019d like to go back, maybe, but it\u2019s pretty expensive now.\u201d<\/p>\n