Foothills Times January 2014 Vol 34 May 2014 | Page 38

Russell Hiatt
Mt.Airy
NORTH CAROLINA

Russell Hiatt

He has been cutting hair since 1945.

A Man Dedicated To People
And Hometown Values!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, if this
is true then a thousand pictures must say so much more.
It has always been the highlight of anyone's visit to
Flyods Barber shop in downtown Mt Airy, to have their
photograph taken in Russell's barber chair and have it
hung on his wall. Russell Hiatt, has been cutting hair
for nearly 70 years, and his shears also graced the head
of Andy Griffith when Andy was a teenager.
I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with a young ,
90 year old Russell recently.” I always enjoyed
working with people” says Russell, “ Their asking me
about Andy Griffith has always been the highlight of
our conversations .It has been a great experience for
me.” Russell made sure his door was open every day at
7 with the exception of Thursday and Sunday. It was
never a problem for him to rise at 5:30 to make sure the
doors opened on time.
His son Bill told me, “ My dad has a great many
memories of all the people who came thru his shop
over the years. His love for Mt Airy and this
community has been a fine example for the other
businesses around here.”
Sitting in Russells’ barber chair transported me back
to the simpler , less stressful days of Mayberry RFD. It
was a privilege to have one of the oldest barbers in the
country cutting my hair that day. Thank you, Russell,
for the magic you helped to bring to this town.

“My dad has a great many memories of all the
people who came thru his shop over the years.”
-Bill Hiatt
Summer 2014, Volume 7, No. 34
38