PINK HILL | Paws N Claws of Pink Hill is a new full-service pet grooming shop in the heart of town.
Owners Susan Baldwin and Nicole Green will bathe and blow dry your dog or cat using a shampoo designed for your pet’s skin type. They do custom clips and cuts to please the pet owners, trim nails and flush ears. They will also treat for fleas and offer a de-shedding treatment, if needed.
Baldwin, the owner of two dachshunds, has 17 years in the pet grooming business. From Michigan, she moved to Mount Olive with her parents who had relatives in Wayne County. While in high school, she had planned to go into veterinary school.
“I always wanted to work with animals,” Baldwin said.
In 1997, she began working at Mount Olive Animal Hospital, and the experience changed her mind about a career.
“I learned how to groom there,” she said. “That was part of my job responsibility.”
After Baldwin left the job in 2002, she worked at various grooming shops until she met up with Susan G. Meyers in Pink Hill.
Meyers offered her and Green a space once occupied by Digital Designs and Southernly Sweet Boutique — both of which continue to operate nearby. Meyers also offered to install basins for pet washing.
“We are business incubators,” she said, referring to her husband Al Rachide. “... Pet grooming fills another need in Pink Hill and has been on our wish list for some time.”
The two pet groomers couldn’t resist the incentives and opened the shop on May 20.
Green, who owns a pit bull and shih-poos (shih tzu and poodle mix), has 13 years of experience in grooming.
She grew up near Richmond, Va., and moved to Benson six years ago. Later, she moved to Snow Hill and now lives in Kinston.
“My grandmother,” she said, “she bred and showed German shepherds and Persians, so I started grooming cats.”
Green helped her grandmother by brushing and shaving the long-haired cats and assisting with their birthing.
Her first job was at a dog grooming shop in Richmond where she bathed and dried them.
“What we do,” Green said, “we learned the old-fashioned way.”
Her next job was at a boarding kennel where she groomed the owners’ spaniels. Later, she worked at a number of grooming shops, including one in Goldsboro after moving to Snow Hill.
“I like them all,” Green said about the different breeds of dogs and cats. “I like their different personalities.”
Her daughter, Kirsten Green, 21, is learning how to bathe animals at the shop.
Baldwin said, “I like being creative, but also just the fact that I get to work with the dogs.”
Paws N Claws of Pink Hill, 108 E. Broadway St., is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. For information or an appointment, call 252-568-1213. New customers receive $5 off their first service.
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Bruce Hill has been helping people with their supplemental insurance needs for nearly 11 years.
The Lenoir County native is an associate for Aflac, the largest supplemental insurance company in the U.S.
Hill graduated from South Lenoir High School in 1974 and the University of North Carolina – Greensboro in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and economy and a concentration in accounting.
He worked with the Lenoir County ABC Board until he retired as general manager after 32 years.
“I started a second career with Aflac,” he said.
Hill had been a customer of the company since 1979.
“The products and services they offer,” he said, “it’s not a matter of if you’re going to need them, it’s when you’re going to need them, and I like to help people, so this is an opportunity to help people.”
The 60-year-old company provides voluntary supplemental insurance — cancer, accidents, hospital, illness, dental, vision, disability and life — for individuals and businesses for their employees.
In the latter, customers save nearly half on their premiums with direct deposit and the premiums aren’t pre-taxed, Hill said.
Then there’s the one-day pay, pictured by the famous flying duck.
“What’s different about Aflac is it pays the money directly to the policyholder,” Hill said.
A recent survey showed Aflac paid out an average of four days, compared with seven days for other supplemental insurance companies, he said.
Now if all the customer information is correctly keyed online before 3 p.m., payment can be direct-deposited for the customer the next day, Hill said.
The one-day pay isn’t available for every type of claim. The company’s website says it’s available for accident, cancer, hospital and illness, but Hill said it will eventually be available for all claims.
“It puts the money in your pocket,” he said, “and you can use it any way you like.”
Hill has served on the Lenoir County Public Schools board for nearly 11 years and was recently elected to the N.C. Association of School Board’s Board of Directors.
He resides in the county with his wife Rachel. They have four grown children.
Bruce Hill can be reached at his home office from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For information, call 252-521-2446.
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Golden Corral now offers made-to-order entrees again.
But the menu features new items, with prices starting at $5.99 for lunch and $7.99 for dinner.
Burgers, rotisserie chicken, meatloaf, pot roast and sirloin tips or filet are offered for both lunch and dinner. Vegetable plates are available at lunch, while the dinner menu features fried chicken, jumbo shrimp and surf and turf. The buffet can be added to any of the meals, which are available for dine in or take out.
Golden Corral is at 4468 U.S. 70 W. For information, call 252-523-7585.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
