Beauty Salon

The Baltimore Sun A Northwest Baltimore man was sentenced to a life in prison for robbing and shooting a Baltimore City beauty salon owner in the head, the state's attorney for Baltimore said Friday. Malcolm Pulliam was sentenced by City Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard for the May 4, 2010 attempted murder of the owner of Blessed Productions Hair Salon in the 6600 block of Belair Road. Pullium walked into the salon, pointed a handgun at the victim and demanded to know the location of her safe, officials said.

Hazel L. Smith, a retired West Baltimore cosmetologist and choir singer, died Sunday of heart failure at her New Shiloh Village Senior Living home. She was 91. Hazel Louise Smith was born and raised in Prince George's County, where she attended public schools. She moved to Baltimore in the 1930s to study cosmetology, and after receiving her license, Ms. Smith opened Hazel's Beauty Salon in her home in the 800 block N. Stricker St. She later moved it to a home on Braddish Avenue, where she lived for many years.

Thelma Taylor, who had been a hairdresser and then an aide to the sick and elderly, died Sunday of a respiratory illness at the Good Samaritan Hospital.Services for Ms. Taylor, who was 74 and lived in the Waters Towers Apartments, will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Waters A.M.E. Church, 417 Aisquith St.She retired about 10 years ago after working for the Baltimore City Health Department helping the sick and elderly at their homes for about three years. Earlier, she owned Thelma's Beauty Salon on Gay Street.

Their friendship is what makes Bella Amici Salon so unique, say owners Melinda Bokeno, 47, Trista Grimm, 37, and Kristen Carmello, 34. “The atmosphere in the salon is like a family, and our customers feel like they have known us forever. It is relaxed, yet very professional,” says Bokeno. “And we have found a good balance between befriending our clients and giving them high-quality service.” The three women have worked in other salons together throughout their careers, but opened Bella Amici in Bel Air in 2004.

Judith Ann Munski, a cosmetologist and owner of Judy's Total Image, a North Point beauty salon, died of cancer Friday at her Kingsville home. She was 61. She was born Judith Ann Greenawald in Baltimore and raised in Edgemere. After graduating from Sparrows Point High School in 1959, she attended cosmetology school. Mrs. Munski established her first beauty salon in 1964 on Holabird Avenue, and moved the business in 1974 to Old North Point Road. She retired last year because of failing health.

Betty Lou Redd, who co-owned a West Baltimore beauty salon, died of cancer Sept. 3 at Sinai Hospital. The Forest Park resident was 65. Born Betty Lou Shaw in Baltimore and raised on Bruce Street, she was a 1957 graduate of Carver Vocational Technical High School, where she remained active in the alumni association and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2001. For more than 49 years, Mrs. Redd and her business partner, Doretha Byrd Burch, owned and operated Byrd & Betty's Beauty Salon in the 1600 block of W. North Ave., where it remains.

The Board of Zoning Appeals of Carroll County has conditionally approved a one-chair beauty salon in a home on Stones Throw Drive in Manchester.Beth and Bill Smith made the request for the part-time business so Beth Smith can stay at home with their baby. The salon would be in the basement of the home and would operate 15 hours a week over two or three weeknights and alternate Saturdays.The couple plans to provide three parking spaces for patrons and display a small sign on the property.Despite opposition from two neighbors, the board approved the request, finding that the Smiths' property is screened from the opposing residents and that traffic from the business would be minimal.

Beatrice M. Hitchner, who had owned a beauty salon and later was a restaurant hostess, died of cardiovascular disease Aug. 24 at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. She was 103. She was born Beatrice Marie Perrin in Winston-Salem, N.C., and she was raised in Baltimore and attended parochial schools. In 1918, she married John Phillip Berger and lived in Philadelphia for eight years before returning to Baltimore in 1926. In the late 1920s, Mrs. Hitchner owned and operated a beauty salon in Hamilton, and during the 1950s and early 1960s worked as an assistant at Art Decorating Co. in the 1200 block of Lovegrove Street.

Jennetta Anthony Thompson, a hairstylist and owner of Anthony's Beauty Salon, died of natural causes July 11 at her Pikesville home. She was 71. A native of Scotland Neck, N.C., she attended school there and also attended Booker T. Washington Middle School in Baltimore. While working at Vellegia's restaurant, she attended Apex Beauty School in Baltimore in the 1950s. After graduating, she obtained her cosmetology license and began working as a hairstylist. She later opened Anthony's Beauty Salon on North Avenue, which she ran from the early 1960s until her retirement in 2002.

Their friendship is what makes Bella Amici Salon so unique, say owners Melinda Bokeno, 47, Trista Grimm, 37, and Kristen Carmello, 34. “The atmosphere in the salon is like a family, and our customers feel like they have known us forever. It is relaxed, yet very professional,” says Bokeno. “And we have found a good balance between befriending our clients and giving them high-quality service.” The three women have worked in other salons together throughout their careers, but opened Bella Amici in Bel Air in 2004.

The Baltimore Sun A Northwest Baltimore man was sentenced to a life in prison for robbing and shooting a Baltimore City beauty salon owner in the head, the state's attorney for Baltimore said Friday. Malcolm Pulliam was sentenced by City Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard for the May 4, 2010 attempted murder of the owner of Blessed Productions Hair Salon in the 6600 block of Belair Road. Pullium walked into the salon, pointed a handgun at the victim and demanded to know the location of her safe, officials said.

Drive along Snowden Farm Parkway in Clarksburg and you can catch a glimpse of two completely different worlds. On one side, a landscape of narrow roads snaking their way around rolling hills, still snow-covered and dotted with farm equipment and red barns. But across the road, the bucolic scene gives way abruptly to rows of half-finished town homes and handsome brick-and-stone multistory houses, packed tightly together and abutting Little Bennett Elementary School. The scene hints at the explosive, sometimes painful, growth hitting this part of Montgomery County — officially the fastest-growing area in Maryland.

Geraldine "Gerri" Sielicki, who owned a northern Baltimore County beauty salon and was an early recipient of a stem-cell transplant, died of stroke complications Friday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Baldwin resident was 60. Born Geraldine Schlosser in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton, she was a 1966 graduate of the Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, where she studied cosmetology. From 1968 to 1977, she was co-owner of the Fontenblu Salon of Beauty on Harford Road in Parkville.

It's Saturday morning in any neighborhood hair salon. Dryers are whirring, curling irons steaming. Amid the machinery, women are gathered - talking, laughing, gossiping, and at times maybe even crying. There are rollers and bobby pins, yes, but more importantly, there's intimacy here. And comfort. The neighborhood beauty shop is a place where stories are told - which is what makes it a perfect setting for a movie. Over the years, many filmmakers have picked up on this notion and set their movies in or around the goings-on in beauty salons.

Sintia Mesa's friends and relatives spent the weekend hoping the missing woman would be found alive. Yesterday, her sister passed out fliers near the Randallstown beauty salon where the woman, and her car, had last been seen. Within hours, the car, and the 25-year-old woman's body were found. Mesa's body was discovered in the trunk of a car in the parking lot of the Park Place Garden Apartments in Northwest Baltimore, city police said. It was unclear yesterday evening where or how Mesa died, authorities said.

Lillian Arlene "A.R." Lane, a retired cosmetologist who owned salons in Towson and Glen Burnie, died of cancer Nov. 28 at her Annapolis home. She was 65. Born in Baltimore and raised in Hampden, she was a 1958 graduate of Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School. From 1958 to 2002, Miss Lane owned Hartique on Chesapeake Avenue in Towson. After closing the business, she owned and operated Glen Forest Senior Apartment Beauty Salon in Glen Burnie for four years until retiring this year because of failing health.

For more than 40 years, from marcel waves to the popular beehive and shag, Ethel M. E. Scheeler, an eastern Baltimore County beautician, made sure her customers were coiffed in the latest styles. The former owner of Scheeler's Beauty Salon in Aero Acres died in her sleep Sunday at Hart Heritage, an assisted-living facility in Street. She was 88. Mrs. Scheeler began her career in the early days of the Depression when she converted the front room of her home on Bird River Road into a beauty salon and began styling hair to help pay for medical treatment for a son who suffered from asthma.

When she was younger, Mabel Yingling used to treat herself now and then to a facial at the Hochschild-Kohn beauty salon in Baltimore."I felt like I owed it to myself," said Yingling, 71, of Furnace Hills.I just don't bother any more. I just stick to my Estee Lauder make-up."She hadn't had a facial in years until last week, when she and fellow members of the Finksburg Senior Center got free treatments from the 11th-graders in the cosmetology department at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center.

The name of the Towers Beauty Salon - the sign says Towers East, the answering machine says Towers West - matters little to the seniors who come in weekly to get their locks trimmed, curled and hair-sprayed into homespun perfection. Customers come in to share local gossip and consume free coffee and cookies while under giant domed hairdryers. They tell stories about being real beauties years ago, though many possess a beauty few can hope to have in their 80s. They also share photos with their stylist, who seems to know exactly what to do for each customer.

Jarvis Thompson, an 18-year-old from Upper Marlboro walked away with bragging rights and a cool $100,000 for besting all comers in the EA Sports Madden Challenge finals, held Feb. 10 as part of the NFL Pro Bowl festivities. Winners from 32 regional tournaments flew to Hawaii for the showdown. Thompson, who traveled to Minneapolis to compete in the regionals, beat 18-year-old Haarwun Brown, of Mobile, Ala., winner of the St. Louis regional. Said Thompson: "There were some tough rounds, but I used the Eagles to take advantage of Donovan McNabb."