Joe Perry and Mike McGowan have had their hands in Kingston’s locks since the ’70s

Susan Benincasa.

CJR: Tell me about Susan.

MMG: We lost a sister. She was unbelievable to me. From the day I met her. She inspired me as a person.

CJR: What does it feel like without Susan?

MMG: For me, her chair is empty, it’s right there. I pretend she is coming back. Everything is in her station, nothing has changed. It’s a huge, huge hole. It’s a broken heart. I am not angry, we are not angry. We are sad, we just miss her. Because if she could not be here 100 percent, she couldn’t be here anymore. And she will always be beautiful. She is very much loved in our families. My wife feels like she lost a sister-in-law.

CJR: Tell me about your involvement with Ulster-Greene ARC? And the Hudson Valley AIDS Auction? What do those mean to you?

JP: I volunteered for ARC in high school and continued to volunteer and was on their fundraising board for a number of years. We had auctions to raise money for them. We did a hair and fashion show for the Brookside School.

The Hudson Valley AIDS Auction we got involved in in the ’90s, and were board members and raised over a million dollars for people with AIDS and HIV in Ulster and Dutchess counties. Money went to five different AIDS-related agencies that gave them money to live and do whatever they needed. Our salon was the headquarters of the drop-offs for the donations for seven years. I knew people who had AIDS and passed away from it, I know others who have it. The least we can do is help these people.

MMG: I have a niece who is handicapped. It touches me too.

CJR: Celebrity hair?

MMG: Joan Rivers at UPAC and freelancing for New York City fashion shows.

JP: Kate Pierson from B-52s.

CJR: Specialties?

JP: Hair straightening and softening.

MMG: Curly hair and extensions.