The Robin's Nest Syling Salon has just closed out a fantastic year, winning runner-up honors in an international Redken competition and seeing hair stylist Heidi Crull achieve elite color certification in New York.

Owner Barb Congdon started up the first Robin's Nest salon in Fort Atkinson 36 years ago as a "nest egg" for her daughter, Robin.

Since then, the salon has expanded from a single site to those in Watertown, Whitewater, Milton and Fort Atkinson. For a while, Jefferson also had a Robin's Nest, but although the company still owns the building, another salon is now located there.

The excitement at The Robin's Nest began in August, when the salon participated in a Redken event called "Night of Color," which challenged hair salons across the nation and beyond to bring in "coloring virgins" for free hair coloring.

"These days, it's hard to find virgins - hair color virgins, that is - since everybody's had something done with their hair," Crull said. "It's the new big thing."

To draw participants, The Robin's Nest put out an e-mail call for hair coloring models to its regular customers and area residents. Participants received all services free.

Internationally, about 150 salons participated in the project and sent in documentation of their special events to the Redken hair styling supplies company, which then chose a select few winners for recognition.

The Robin's Nest assembled an actual book featuring photos of its event. With lots of panache and flair, the book shows the entire process, featuring "before" and "after" shots of several different volunteers, and lots of atmospheric photos.

"We had no budget to speak of, so everything we used just came from our homes," Crull said, speaking of the décor.

Congdon said that the local salon was trying to find its own "edge" that would draw notice from contest judges. Eventually, organizers discovered the winning touch. Using Redken posters in which a series of glamorous models showed off featured hairstyles, the Robin's Nest employees cut out the heads of the poster models and placed the posters over the heads and newly-colored tresses of the local "models."

The resulting photos look remarkably authentic, with the real people seeming to pop out of the two-dimensional poster.

In November, The Robin's Nest learned that it had been chosen as one of only six runners-up in the contest. As a prize, Redken supplied the local salon with $1,000 in free color products. The supply company from whom The Robin's Nest orders also sent the local salon flowers.

"It's an unbelievable honor," Congdon said.

"That  sent a lot of energy into our salon," Crull added.