Groom-a-thon raises funds for local family

Carin Pinkerton, left, and Gretchen Spitz groomed dozens of dogs on Saturday, March 24. Together the two groomed nearly 30 dogs from 7:30 - 8:30, raising $1,400 for the Hottell family, whose young son, Karter, needs extra medical attention. The winning bid for a handmade collar and leash, donated by Ryan Hinton, was $190. Spitz said that she wanted to do something extraordinary for the family as she faced huge medical bills at age 21, following the birth of her son. "I lost everything except for my son," she said. " Back then there were no GoFundMe pages, so when I saw they needed help I just thought 'What can I do?'," Spitz said. "And it felt so good to be able to help that family. It was awesome and it made my heart smile from the inside."