Terry Matlock, founder of Terry Matlock School of Performing Arts, began her dance education when shewas just three years old. “Dancing was my passion,” she shares. Growing up in Flint, Matlock started teaching dance in her parent’s basement studio at age 14. “I charged 50 cents a class,” she remembers. Her very first student, Mary Blevins, is now one of her teachers and studio manager. When Matlock was 18, she rented her first commercial building for her dance school and her students’ first recital was held at Freeman Elementary School.
When you enter Knob Hill Bed & Breakfast on South Drive in Flint, you’ll know it’s your time to relax. That’s right – there is a successful B&B in Flint, and this place is drawing tourists from near and far who come to spend a relaxing weekend in Vehicle City. You’ll find this graceful mansion hidden in the quiet Knob Hill Subdivision off Miller Road near the I-69 Hammerberg Road Exit.
It’s time to get your game on – and King Par Superstore in Flushing provides a golf experience for people of all ages. The seventh largest golf specialty store in the Midwest, it was named by Golf World magazine as one of America’s Top 100 Golf Stores. According to Nigel Matthews, Product Development Manager/Overseas Sales Director, King Par has something for everyone. Nigel met King Par owner, John Runyon, in Scotland at The Old Course at St. Andrews – one of the world’s most iconic courses and considered by many to be the home of golf. Having an extensive business background and professional golf skills, Nigel was invited by John to visit Flint and after obtaining a Visa allowing him to work in the U.S. He was then hired to bring his expertise to King Par. “It’s nice to be back in the golf industry,” he says.
Family-owned lumber yards are nearly a thing of the past, but hidden on the outer edge of Downtown Flint is Michigan Lumber Company, doing business at the same location for almost 100 years! Now, with the third generation at the helm, MLC continues to operate under the philosophies established by their forefathers – to sell only the finest quality lumber.
The idea to create a unique pet care facility came to Heidi when she was going to law school in Atlanta. While she attended classes, she would leave her basset hound, Charlotte, at a doggy day care center. She met her future husband Craig McAra at school, and when they relocated to Genesee County where Craig was from, Heidi saw that pet care facilities in the area were limited. The couple had a law practice, but Heidi was eventually bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and decided that she could meet an underserved need for doggy day care in the Flint area.
Cliff attended Mott Middle College and received a degree in Sociology at the University of Michigan-Flint. Due to the economy at that time, he was struggling to find a job. So, he returned to his roots and decided to start an upholstering business in 2007. His mother, Cheryl Menard, upholstered furniture as a hobby while Cliff was growing up. “She taught me to sew,” he laughed. He learned the art of upholstering by watching and helping his mother, and discovered he was good at it. He would find old furniture at garage sales and items discarded on the roadside, then refurbish and sell them. “I love working on antiques,” he smiled.
When My City Magazine visited the flower shop, preparations were underway for a bustling Valentine’s Day – the warehouse was full of flowers being processed. Eighty-five percent of the flowers Vogt’s uses are grown in Columbia and Ecuador, but they also use sources in Florida, Hawaii and Canada. The most popular flower is the rose, without question. On Valentine’s Day, Vogt’s will sell between 15,000 and 20,000 roses. Over 100 staff members will man the shops and at least 37 delivery drivers will drive all over town. Inside the warehouse, 18 floral designers prepare arrangements and place them in an area that is turned into a cooler for pre-delivery storage. While the number of Valentine’s Day pre-orders is impressive, robust walk-in sales make the day even crazier. “It’s quite the day,” laughs Kreg, “but we do a really nice job for our cash-and-carry customers, too. They don’t get the short end of the stick.”
Bob also played briefly in the National Hockey League for the Los Angeles Kings and for the American Hockey League’s Springfield Kings in Springfield, MA, then on the International Hockey League team in Muskegon. He and his wife, Kris, moved to Flint on New Year’s Day in 1969 when Bob became the goalie for the Flint Generals. The couple had two children, Robert and Lahna. While playing for the Generals in 1974, Bob pursued his first business venture, Perani’s Pizza. Four years later, he opened Bob Perani’s Sport Shop, which was located on Davison Road. Initially a general sporting goods store, its focus was on hockey equipment, explained Robert. But it quickly transformed into a specialty store. “Hockey was beginning to grow,” says Kevin Ward, Robert’s brother-in-law and Perani’s president/COO. The store moved to Dort Highway in 1989 and then to the Dort Mall in 1997 after Bob purchased the building.
Judy began working at King Arthur’s 30 years ago as a cake decorator. She had taken cake-decorating classes and was working at an Owosso bakery when Arthur hired her. “I’ve always loved to bake!” she exclaimed. Judy was a good employee, and remembers the owner telling her, “Stick around and this place will be yours.” “And that’s what happened,” she laughed. When Judy and Randy bought the place, Arthur’s pasty recipe came with the deal. The recipe originated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a place famous for pasties. In the U.P., pasties were an ideal food for immigrants working in the mines because they could tuck them into their pockets to keep warm until lunchtime. According to legend, King Arthur served pasties to the Knights of the Round Table, hence the whimsical name of the eatery.
