Waiting for Bob

BROOKINGS For the first time in more than half a century, Brookings folk in need of a haircut won’t be able to drop in and wait for Bob.

Bob Melmer, who has operated two barber shops in downtown Brookings for 51 years, began seeing regular clients by appointment only on Aug. 1.

Melmer’s wife Jeanne made the announcement at the end of July. Melmer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last summer, and while he is still going to cut hair, the long 10-to 12-hour days on his feet are simply no longer feasible.

The Parkinsons has got me where I can only work a couple hours at a time,” Melmer said. “I just cant do eight hours at a time anymore.

Parkinson’s is a long-term disease that attacks the centralnervous system, and among it’s chief symptoms are tremor and difficulty with balance. Muhammad Ali famously battled the disease and raised money and awareness to fight it from his diagnosis in 1984 until his death in 2016.

While it’s not the end of the line for Melmer, it does feel like the end of an era for Brookings, as generations of residents would drop in for a trim over the decades at his two downtown locations catching up on the news in town, reading the sports pages and “waiting for Bob,” as the refrain went, even when the other barbers had an empty chair.

Friends Melmer made when he first came to town brought their kids to him for their first haircuts and now their kids have done the same.

Started from the bottom

Melmer remembers the exact day he arrived in Brookings.

“July 19, 1973,” he says with a grin.

Melmer moved to Brookings from Geddes and immediately went to work cutting hair for John Bennett at John’s Barber Shop, downstairs and across Fifth Street from the post office.

Melmer remembers several blizzards over the years and having to basically carry the snow out of the basement steps with a shovel.

He worked for Bennett for 10 years before buying him out and operating in the same location. 10 years later him moved to his present location, a baseball throw away on Main Ave. It was a change, but not too much of one you can see one door from the other.

Asked what he thinks of most about all his time in downtown Brookings, Melmer said change was the only constant.

“Lots of changes, lots of changes, always,” he said.

But the anchor was the relationships he made with friends who were customers, and customers who became friends.

“Thats what its about, building relationships with people,” he said. “And I am so thankful for everyone and everything people have done.

On a Razor’s Edge

From the early 90s up until last month, Melmer’s Razor’s Edge was more than a barber shop or maybe just what a barber shop should be.

While you waited for Bob to finish up on whoever was in line in front of you, you could catch up on the gossip in town, rehash the latest local ballgame or argue professional football, whether you were a fan of the Vikings, the Packers or Melmer’s beloved Bears.

And while the move was always to wait for Bob, he made a point to mention a couple of his second chairs.

“I just talked to Molly Yunginger on the phone the other day,” Melmer said. “She was here for 12 or 13 years. Denise Rennich was here for almost 20 years.”

With a need for only one chair at the new, appointment only Razors Edge, Jeanne says shes getting a recliner so that Melmer can put his feet up between clips.

Keeping community

Melmer is committed to continuing to cut the hair of his longtime regular clients.

The plan is to take care of them like they have always taken care of me, he said.

And though hes much too modest to say it himself, thats something Melmer has always done.

His wife says he continues to make house calls for older Brookings residents some prominent and some not who can no longer leave home to have their hair cut.

He has delivered the papers and magazines he had delivered to the shop for people waiting waiting for Bob to folks who might not mind reading the news a day late.

And he has long and widely been known to refuse payment for a haircut for someone who might have been short that week or just was a scuffling college student at the time.

He wont get to play golf in his semi-retirement like he long planned Parkinsons took that from me, he says with more than a hint of resolve.

But he will get to watch his Cubs and Bears some more. And spend time with his new grandchild.

Hell be taking appointments Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. If youve got his number, give him a call.

Folks needing a drop in can get help just two doors down where Linda, Amy and Jim have opened Brookings Barbers.

It wont be the same as waiting for Bob, but the only constant is change. Still, it was nice to pretend otherwise on a Saturday morning where everyone knew your name, and very little ever changed because it was a part of a tight-knit community.

Josh Linehan is the Register’s managing editor and got his first haircut downstairs at Bob’s. He welcomes tips and comments at[email protected].