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in 1975, Art decided to get his pest control
license and continue the family business. Art
remembers, “With a limited education, my
father started working in the textile mills. When
Mayor Taylor encouraged him to start his own
business, Dad transferred from textiles to pest
control. Of course, at that time, you didn’t
have all of the regulations, and by the time the
legislature mandated a license, Dad was already
grandfathered in. However, when he passed
away, I went to Raleigh and earned my license.”
At the time Art took over the small one-truck
operation, he was already married to Ann. Art
laughs, “Everybody knew me in Aberdeen, so I
had to go out of town to get a wife. My wife is
from Sanford, and we have one son named Alan
who studied business at UNC Carolina and has a
pest management license as well.” Both Ann and
Alan work with Art at Aberdeen Exterminating.
Family owned and operated from the beginning,
Art smiles, “We’ve come a long way; we’ve grown
along with the area.” Now 25 employees strong,
Art informs, “Our focused service area is Moore
County and the Sandhills. We provide a good,
affordable service for our neighbors, and we are
heavily-invested because this is home.”
With long-time employees and customers,
Art recalls some who have been invested from
the beginning. “Oh yeah. The first one to come
to mind is the Moon family with the Coca
Cola Company; they’ve been a customer since
day one. And Vito with Vito’s Pizza has been a
customer since the establishment of his first
little takeout place to his restaurant.”
Along with the bugs, customers faithfully
return each year. Services include residential
and commercial pest control, and termite
control. Art emphasizes, “Everybody needs
termite protection. North Carolina is a highpressure
area with a high concentration of
termites. In addition to termites, we also treat
for ants, fleas, spiders, and roaches. If you come
from Charleston, then you call them a Palmetto
bug. Mosquito control has become popular
because of Zika and all the bad publicity around
mosquito issues. Mosquitoes affect pets as well
as people.”
In addition to offering pest control for all
those little creepy crawlies that homeowners
detest, Aberdeen Exterminating offers moisture
control for crawl spaces and such. The most
important way homeowners can protect their
home from bugs is to maintain a relatively–
dry environment as critters need moisture to
survive. For termite control, Art tells, “Eliminate
moisture! Also don’t store wood, a food source of
termites, against or under the house.”
Art continues, “Locally we only have
subterranean termites, but there are other
termites such as the dry wood termite native to
the Gulf states and California. These termites
can infest a piece of furniture, so when people
move, they bring the termites along with the
furniture.” An expert on all kinds of critters, Art
can handle the bugs, but snakes are a different
story altogether. And the day Art had to remove
an owl from a fireplace for a lady in Aberdeen
remains an unforgettable memory.
No matter what the service call presents,
Art assures, “We’re on time, and if we tell you
something, then you can take it to the bank. We
always give locals an honest opinion and a fair
price for any service. We’re not going to sell them
something unnecessary. If they need it, then
we’ll tell them. My guys are not commissioned
salesmen; they make the same thing whether
the homeowner agrees to the service or not.”
Aberdeen Exterminating is—Art finishes,
“Dependable.” Going on 50 years on the job,
Art muses, “I hope Alan does well, and I can
go fishing. Alan knows the ropes; he’s a third
generation pest control operator—that’s pretty
rare.” Art brags on his wife Ann, “She worked
in public health nursing until I convinced her
to work for me. She’s been here 20 years; she’s the
office manager, the glue that holds us all together.”
Art continues, “My favorite aspect of the
business is the relationship with the customers.
Explaining solutions and offering help to
customers is my strongest attribute. If you’ve
got a pest problem, then I’ll dig deep to solve it.”
After fifty years of service, Art looks forward
to easing into part–time before transitioning
into retirement. He dreams, “I look forward to
fishing more as I like to fish anywhere anytime.
Every summer, I go to Canada with friends; we
fly in, land on a lake in the middle of nowhere,
and fish for Wall Eye, Pike, and such.”
Is it the solitude or the reeling it in, I wonder?
Art pauses, “It’s both, particularly if you catch a
big one! However being out in nature is relaxing;
I like seeing the animals—all but the snakes. You
have to remember, I grew up in Aberdeen, and I
spent lots of time at Aberdeen Lake. Water has
always been a part of my life.”
Besides fishing, Art enjoys dinner with
Ann at 195, their favorite restaurant. Moore
County remains his favorite place, although Art
summarizes, “It’s changing. It’s not so much the
quiet, sleepy place it once was. Everybody wants
what we had; Moore County wasn’t prepared.”
As home welcomes growth and life moves on
towards retirement, Art shares some life advice,
“I just think you need to set a standard and live
by it. Be fair with people; live the golden rule;
and treat people the way you want to be treated.”
As for retirement, “The main thing is be aware
that it’s coming. Time flies. It’s nice to live for the
moment, but tomorrow is coming.”
Looking forward to more opportunities for
fishing and friends, Art realizes, “I have a lot
of good friends. It’s funny how they migrate
back. Everybody goes to college, gets a life, gets
married and leaves the area. When they reach
the Golden Years, they all start trickling back.
Good memories.”
As, homeowners seek to protect their greatest
asset from pests, they can depend on Aberdeen
Exterminating. Art encourages, “Give us a call,
look us up on our web page. or pick up the
Pinehurst Gazette.” ����For more info, see p. 4.
WORK LIFE con't from p. 5
HOME con't. next column
HOME con't from FRONT PAGE
HOME continued
computer on all the time.
Yes, I am suggesting you turn your devices
off. All the way off! A great way to manage the
temptation to work when you are away from the
office is to make it hard to do that work. If you
must switch your phone back on to check it, you
might think twice before doing it.
As part of creating this new, healthier
environment, engage other people to help you.
Ask your friends and family members to help
you stay away from work. Give them permission
to remind you to put your phone away (and
don’t get annoyed with them when they do).
Step away from work — and watch
disaster not strike. Even if you do create these
plans and an environment conducive to seeing
them through, you still need to be willing to
disconnect from work for a period. That can be
anxiety-provoking. After all, you might miss an
important email; something could go wrong;
important work might be done badly or not
done at all.
Studies suggest that a great way to reduce
anxiety is to expose yourself to the scary
situation, and gradually learn that the situation
is not actually threatening.
If your problem is that you’re constantly
worried about missing an important email,
go a night without checking your email — and
discover that all the work you need to do is still
there in the morning. Then expand the amount
of time you leave your email unchecked. Try
to get through an entire day of the weekend
without checking. Then — gasp! — an entire
weekend. You may find that many people
manage to answer their own questions if you
don’t get back to them right away. On top of that,
you will return to work with more energy and
better ideas because you took some time off.
References: Harvard Business Review
Alan & Art Parker, owners of Aberdeen Exterminating.
Father & Son keep the business family owned and operated.
and Markman
Moore County Chamber of Commerce
(910) 692-3926
p.26 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 130