Our very own Chef Tony proves he's just as talented with a spatula as he is with a pen.  On his blog, he'll share life lessons as well as learn some of his most mouth-watering recipes.

Check back to hear more and see what's cookin' here at CB&GCW.

Click for Chef Tony's Blog

Ms. Kristin coordinates all the educational and special programs, as well as many other things.  She's the best person to tell you about all the upcoming programs that we're having for our kids at CB&GCW.

Check back to see what Ms. Kristin and the staff of CB&GCW have coming up for our members!

Click for Ms. Kristin's Blog

Mr. Brian, our go-to-guy for anything operations related, updates us from time to time on the latest happenings at the Club.  He's always got his finger directly on the pulse of the CB&GCW.

Check back to see what we're working on to make the Club bigger and better!

Click for Mr. Brian's Blog

Hello friends!  Before I start giving you recipes and cooking tips, I felt that you might want to know about me and my credentials.  I have had a love for cooking since the age of 11.  At 12 I was already taking cooking lessons at a school in N.Y.  My aunt, who was a personal chef for Tony Randall, paid for me to take cooking classes.  She was the person in my life that convinced me to be honest and to work hard, and to not want for what I didn't need.  She also taught me to believe that food has to all that matters.

By the time I was in the 10th grade, I was helping home economics teachers give classes, but before i graduated an uncle of mine that was a chef in the navy told me to get a construction job.  He told me that by doing hard labor and learning the value of giving or providing a service would be instrumental to my success as a chef.  He also told me that the construction work would harden my hands enabling me to handle hot things and give my hands the endurance it takes to feed and prepare for hundreds. 

So I took my uncle's advice and quit my steak house job to learn how to do construction.  I was a strong, young, ambitious, and a quick learner.  I landed a job paving streets, a hot and demanding job.  I started as a shovel laborer and slowly moved up to running heavy equipment, and then on to site manager's assistant.  The job payed well but took all of my time and energy for doing my upkeep of my home and social life.  I continued this line of work for 3 years then I returned to the culinary field, where I have defined my status as a well known chef in my community. 

The CB&GCW is excitedly awaiting the commencement of the first phase of renovation funded by a generous grant from the City of Wilmington.  During this phase of the project, the current thin plastic flooring on the gym floor will be removed and replaced with genuine maple flooring.  This is not only a fantastic aesthetic improvement to the Club, but also a long-term health benefit to our young members.  With the increased support and suspension of maple flooring, the likelihood of long-term joint trauma decreases.

The current wooden bleachers will be replaced by aluminum tip and roll bleachers, allowing more creativity and space when we set up for Club, community, and private events.  Further, both locker rooms will be repainted and new ceilings will be installed.  Lastly, along with a complete repainting of the gym, the current scoreboard will be replaced with a state of the art scoreboard with a large LED display where we can program it to scroll "Go Warriors!"  CB&GCW wants to thank everyone whose hard work and dedication to the mission of our Club has made this dram a reality!  Coming soon in the next phase:  new carpeting and tile throughout the building!

“RIIIINNNGG,” the school bell sounds! School is almost out for the summer! Next Wednesday is the last day of school and the CBGCW after-school program for the 2008-2009 year. Don’t worry, though, because Community has a spectacular summer program planned! Check out our Club Calendar for a list of all the great field trips we have scheduled. We’re happy to offer our 8-week summer program at a rate of $385 for Early Bird Campers (7:30a-5:30p) and $325 for Regular Campers (9a-5:30p). Do the math—it works out to just $0.96 an hour! Field trip fees are not included. We have a parent/member summer camp orientation set for June 19, so make sure you take advantage of our rate and get your child signed up before the orientation!

We’re in the middle of our 7 Days of VolunTEENing Changes Lives event for the teens, and we’re pleased with how it’s going! We’re so excited for our wrap up day on Saturday at the Humane Society in Topsail and the after party at the Club. The DIVAS and the Step Team rocked the house, I mean mall, during their performances for Miss USA! We’ve even been invited back for performances in August, so we have a lot of work to do this summer!

Our summer program begins June 22 and goes through August 14. Our next after-school program begins August 25. Get excited for our summer program & for more updates soon!

“I’m a, I’m a, a diva” coach! I have some exciting news for the DIVAS Dance Team! We recently had a DIVAS Girls’ Night, where we watched a dance movie, painted finger nails, ate some popcorn, listened to music and ate more popcorn! At this Girls’ Night, I announced to my DIVAS the news of our first performance. We will be performing at the Independence Mall on May 30 while Miss USA signs autographs! We have a lot of practicing to do, but the DIVAS are excited for this opportunity! I will be taking two of the captains to the mall this week to make the final decisions on our uniforms & we will be ordering them this week!

In other news, our teens will soon be involved in a special week-long event: 7 Days of VolunTEENing Changes Lives. Beginning on May 31 and going until June 6, our teens will help with a number of things at the Club and out in the community. At the Club, the teens will be helping younger members with their homework, helping in the canteen, and holding a conference concerning the ins & outs of high school and middle school for the younger members. Teens will also volunteer at a local nursing home and humane society. After all their hard work, the teens will relax and socialize at a Teen Party, where they will be presented awards based on their academic and behavioral performances and also certificates for their volunteer hours. The purpose of this event is to give back to the community and also be in the running to win a $1,000 grant to attend the Regional Keystone Conference in Virginia this year.

Wish the DIVAS luck on their performance and wish the teens luck for the grant! Stay tuned for updates!

Who doesn't love dogs & pizza? Coming soon is a new reading program for our Cadets called "PAWs for Reading" and a new reading program for our Juniors and Teens called "Pizza & Pages". PAWs for Reading was initiated by Carolina Canines in 2002. Carolina Canines, a local non-profit organization, is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities to achieve greater independence and enhanced quality of life through the services of specially trained dogs. (More information can be found at http://www.carolinacanines.org/index.html).

The PAWs for Reading program mission is to improve the literacy skills of children through the use of registered Carolina Canines for Therapy teams as literacy mentors. PAWs for Reading demonstrates that registered handlers and their therapy dogs are instrumental in improving the literacy skills of children in an effective, unique and, most importantly, fun manner. Results from PAWs for Reading demonstrate that 83% of the children participating have improved reading skills. (More information can be found at http://www.carolinacanines.org/documents/PawsforReading.htm). A team (dog & owner) will visit the Club at least once a week! PAWs for Reading at the Club will begin in May!

While PAWs for Reading will be directed toward Cadets, the Pizza & Pages book club will be directed toward the older members. The Juniors will have their own Pizza & Pages club and the Teens will have their own Pizza & Pages club. These groups will continuously utilize the books we have in our library. Members will meet once or twice a week to read together from one of the pre-selected books. Members will check out the books to take home to read the assigned number of pages throughout the week. Several of the books in the library have been adapted into movies, and upon completion of each book, members will assemble in the Canteen to watch the movie adaptation while enjoying some pizza thanks to a kind commitment to donate by Dominos Pizza!

This program will begin during our summer session. Reading is very beneficial in so many ways, and we are very excited to kick these programs off! Both programs are a great way to foster a love of reading in our members!

Please let us know if you would like to donate any books that have been adapted into movies or any movies that are based on books! Until next time...Ms. Kristin