A total of 2,822 groomers from across the country attended the eighth annual Celebration of Style grooming competition, held Oct. 12-14 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., and 42 groomers entered 90 dogs in an effort to win nearly $20,000 in cash, travel packages and trophies during the three-day event sanctioned by GroomTeam USA (Beaumont, Calif.).

The competition was held in conjunction with H.H. Backer’s 41st Annual Pet Industry Christmas Trade Show and Educational Conference.

For the second consecutive year, Greta Dalrymple of Top Notch Grooming (Niles, Mich.) had Best Groomed Dog in Division A. She won $2,000 and a trophy from Electric Cleaner Co. (Osseo, Wis.), plus a five-night trip for two to Hawaii provided by H.H. Backer Associates.

Veronica Frosch of The Paw Shoppe (Coon Rapids, Minn.) was Division A’s Best All-Around Groomer. She won $2,000 from Coastal Pet Products Inc. (Alliance, Ohio).

Ronald Bochanek of Bark-A-Lounge (Oswego, Ill.) went home happy: He had Best Groomed Dog in Division B, receiving $1,000 from Gimborn Pet Specialties (Norcross, Ga.), plus two round-trip tickets for any continental U.S. destination, provided by H.H. Backer Associates; and also was named Best All-Around Groomer in Division B, receiving $1,000 from ConairPro Professional Pet Grooming Products (Stamford, Conn.).

Willie Duckworth and Courtney Potes of the Paragon School of Pet Grooming (Jenison, Mich.) took first place in the new Grooming School Team Challenge, in which pairs of students worked together to groom a single dog. Denise Whitney and Reba Graham, also from the Paragon School of Pet Grooming, took second.
Individual classes were sponsored by Metro Air Force (Suffern, N.Y.), Andis Co. (Racine, Wis.), Lambert Kay/Church & Dwight Co. (Princeton, N.J.) and Ultra-Lift Inc. (Manawa, Wis.).

The ninth Celebration of Style will be held in conjunction with H.H. Backer’s 42nd Annual Pet Industry Christmas Trade Show, Oct. 3-5, 2008, at the same site.