By Bob Harris
About 21 years ago, Paul was cutting his neighbor's hair at her house when he decided that little girls like Michelle, then 14, should receive beauty treatments like other children and adults in a salon. He decided to open his salon one Sunday prior to the holidays and give free beauty treatments to the developmentally disabled and other disabled people who rarely went out to a beauty parlor.Since some disabled are epileptic and subject to seizures or twitches, it is hard to cut their hair.Walking into LP & Company that Sunday was like walking into merry pandemonium. Santa, (Anthony Galeotti) was laughing and loudly wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Anthony, who lives right behind me, is a pharmaceutical salesman who has been doing this for nine years. Clifford the Big Red Dog was played by Liana, one of the beauticians. The costumes were lent by the Shazam Entertainment Co. Holiday music added to the merriment.Suddenly from out of the bustle came United States Marines in full dress uniform, giving out toys to the children and young adults. The U.S. Marines run the Toys For Tots during the holidays. For four years they have been coming to LP & Company with toys donated by corporations, families and the Toys For Tots Foundation. Sgt. Nick D'Andrea (Ret.) led a few young Marines who had returned from Iraq and were now giving out toys. This event was coordinated by Anthony Gurino, a neighborhood person. The refreshments were paid for by the patrons of the store. Larry sells raffle tickets for $2.One prize was a hair care basket and the other was a free haircut with the stylist of the winners choice.I watched Larry cutting the hair of a girl who sat in the chair while a volunteer gently held the girl's head so she would not move it quickly. The girl, about 15 years old, was smiling as Larry cut the hair. Older people slept in their wheel chairs after they had their beauty treatment. The LP staff who volunteered and often brought their own children in to help, all wearing LP T-shirts, were Lillian, Olga, Lana, Marina, Brad, Victoria, Lena, Maria A., Maria Y., Cathy, Tula, Marina, Diedra, Seeta, Sean, and Rene. Many patrons and spouses came to help, including Liz, Jacob and Larry's wife Anna. Children of the staff were Ganelle, Rachel, Liana, Stephany, Ouriel, Malina, Cynthia and Malini.Carol Walsh, a customer, came in to take photos. Cliff Weissman also came in to take photos. Guillanume Gignac, who owns his own store on 55th Avenue and 5th Avenue and who lives in the neighborhood, has been helping for seven years. Another friend Michael and his wife Jeannie, who owns the salon Vesintine in Manhattan, also came to help.Donald Pearson, who was there with his cousin, said it was “nice here. It is a nice holiday event for the children.”Several groups brought people. Larry said that 94 people had signed up, ranging in age from 11 to 81. One large group came from PS 811. Denice Jordan is the parent coordinator. She said the event was “really beautiful, very nice.” I discovered that she was a graduate of Andrew Jackson High School. Barbara Tetenbaum is the current music teacher at PS 811 Q. She had helped bring the 30 students who came this year, which is hard because the school has several sites. Her comments seemed to sum up the event: “Some students have never been to a beauty parlor. Larry is amazing!”GOOD AND BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK: The mayor has issued a report which says that by the year 2030 New York City will add another million people. There is concern that open spaces will be lost and more cement and bricks will replace green things in Queens. The mayor talks about providing more park space for people. There is currently land which could be used for green spaces. The Klein Farm in Fresh Meadows, which was the last operating farm in New York City, is currently in a preservation district so can't be developed commercially by the developer who bought it. The West Cunningham Park Civic Association is part of a coalition of civic and tenant groups fighting to turn the Klein Farm into park land. St. Savior's Church in West Maspeth is a fine piece of land which could easily be made into a park. The Juniper Park Civic Association is fighting for it. There is no park in West Maspeth. It's a plan!
