Top Achievements In Grooming

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The Cardinal Crystal Awards, sponsored by Cardinal Pet Care,  celebrated the best and  brightest in the competitive pet grooming industry with awards in eight different categories,  during a ceremony in July at SuperZoo.

This year’s Competitive Groomer of the Year Award was won by Lindsey Dicken, a National Certified Professional Groomer from Altamonte Springs, Fla. and last year’s Cardinal Crystal American Groomer of the Year.

Best known for grooming Bichon Frises, Lindsey has won numerous grooming awards in the past, including World Champion Poodle Groomer, Intergroom’s American Groomer of the Year and the Lynn Carver Memorial Award for Best All Around Pet Stylist in 2008 and 2010.

Lisa Correia, Mary Oquendo and Sue Pratt, were this year’s recipients of the David G. Salzberg Award, presented annually to the individual or organization who makes outstanding contributions to competitive grooming and groomers in general.  Correia, Oquendo and Pratt tirelessly helped other groomers worse off than them during Hurricane Sandy. Each of them helped in their own way, including volunteering at shelters, offering free grooming to those affected and providing pet supplies to people and businesses throughout the area.

Other 2012 Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Award Winners included:

• Sue Zecco, Grooming Contest Judge of the Year
• Jodi Murphy, Mobile Groomer of the Year
• Best Friends Pet Care Centers, Retail Grooming Salon of the Year 5+ Units
• Yankee Clipper, Retail Grooming Salon of the Year 5 Units or Less
• Irina Pinkusevich, Congeniality Award
• Jackie Boulton, International Groomer of the Year

“The Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Awards have become an institution in the grooming industry, showcasing the achievements of groomers who have done so much to raise the levels of professionalism in the trade,” Tony de Vos, president of Cardinal Pet Care, said.  “The winners of this year’s awards are exceptional individuals who have demonstrated outstanding expertise, creativity and social responsibility, benefiting the grooming industry and the pet-owning public alike.  We are honored to present the winners with the Awards and we congratulate them.”

The Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Awards were founded in 1988 by Cardinal Pet Care President Tony de Vos and Shirlee Kalstone, then owner of the International Intergroom trade show for competitive grooming, for the purpose of establishing standards of grooming excellence and recognizing professional skills in the competitive grooming industry.

Since the beginning, the Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Awards have been considered one of the highest honors in the pet grooming industry, annually presenting awards for outstanding achievements.

A complete description of the criteria for the awards can be found at http://www.cardinalcrystalawards.com/card_awardDesc.htm.