That's A Wrap! Our 1st Annual Great American Golf Tournament

 Great American Golf Tournament Follow Up

Our Take Home Bags & Centerpiece

Month's of planning and within a day our 1st Annual Great American Golf Tournament is over.  For all of you out there dancing to the sun gods, many thanks! We were graced with a gorgeous 80 degree day with lots of sun and the day's events from registration to saying farewell went off without a hitch. Together we raised about $3,900! (final total to be determined by the silent auction results).



Thank You To All Our Wonderful Players

Methuen Fire

Comprised solely of friends and co-workers, the field of players for our tourney was just outstanding.  It was our goal to create an event that people would enjoy and look forward to each year.  To see so many supporters join us for our first ever Great American Golf Tournament was heartwarming and motivation to revisit the event in 2012...which is already in the works!

The lovely Mandy!

 To Our Wonderful Volunteers Thank You!

 We could not have done it without you!!  A big fat thank you to Mandy and Abbey who did an unbelievable job throughout the whole tournament, Lisa of LI Designs who took most of our pictures and my mom Sharon who helped get things rolling at registration.

I'd also like to send a very warm thank you to Dennis McCarthy of Lazarus House Ministries who, even though was not on the volunteer roster, showed up (twice) to donate his time.  What incredible support!

The Incredible Fred

To My Wonderful Husband Fred

Like I mentioned on The Friends of Kevin Radio Show, "It always seems to start with Fred..." and without a doubt, this golf tournament was all Fred.  He got the golfers, ran the games, he made the speech at the reception, heck* he even came up with the idea!  To have him hop on the bake sale band wagon with me and be so excited about doing it all over again next year is phenomenal.  We have truly become a family fundraising for No Kid Hungry...and that's just plain awesome.


To Our Wonderful Sponsors, Vendors & Donators

1st Hole

KBK Sports who hosted the silent auction and whose founder is the VP of The Lowell Spinners.


Blast Mixer Smoothies, Lemonade and Skinny Alternative Energy Drinks for hosting a table at the registration area and making a charitable contribution to our tourney.

Click Here For The Full List of People Involved
 
A Big Fat Thank You to Merrimack Valley Golf Club!  

The View From Registration/Clubhouse

 Awesome, awesome people!  I showed up well before I was expected (a habit of mine) and was greeted by the most exceptional staff.  From the help with set up to coordinating the tournament, these guys were top notch.  We heard from just about every golfer that the course looked incredible and played well.  Merrimack Valley Golf Club



Incredible Food From Simply Elegant Catering!

Breakfast's Coffee & Pastry Table

Simply Elegant Catering provided us with the most incredible guy -Andrew- to manage the meals served at our tournament.  He bent over backwards for us and was a great addition to the tournament staff for the day.  Sam and Michele were very accommodating and really made a huge impact on the success of the day.  Also, they donated all the left over food from the tournament to Lazarus House Ministries' emergency shelter. 

Other Fun From The Day

1, 2, 3...Shoot!

Carts were driving around the course offering samples of wine, scotch and tequila. I know, I know- It sounds like a bad idea, but the golfers loved it!

Posing for the camera

Bobby (right) and my wonderful husband Fred (left)

No, we're not kidding.  This guy actually shot the worm....

The Putt Off

Our 11 Finalists

The Peanut Gallery! Or should I say hecklers.

Dennis Gillespie, who didn't make the $5K putt (sorry Dennis!)

Great American Golf Tournament Donations & Sponsors!

It's almost here, our 2011 Great American Bake Sale finale!  

Great American Golf Tournament

8:00 Shotgun

Monday, September 26th

Merrimack Valley Golf Club

Methuen, Ma

Below is a list of all our wonderful sponsors, participating businesses and raffle prizes donated.  So many thanks to everyone involved!!

Links for everyone can be found in the left sidebar.

Register Here......Volunteer Here......Donate Here

Have an awesome day everyone!

Tournament Winner Prizes

Haverhill Country Club Foursome

Bradford Country Club Foursome

Merrimack Valley Golf Club Foursome

Raffle Prizes

3) Adobe Photo Shop Elements 9 (Donated by Bill Sahlas)

$75 Gift Certificate to Burton's Grill

3) $50 Gift Certificates To The Loft (Donated by MerchantCircle)

Ticket to Taste Of The Nation Boston 2012

$50 Gift Certificate to Independent Tire

$100 Gift Certificate to A Great New Look

Dinner for Four from The Meat House

2) Lube/Oil/Filter Changes at Trombley Bros., Inc.

Pizza Party from Stachey's Olde-Time Pizzeria

4 Passes to LaserCraze

One Month Membership to Choice Fitness

Starbucks Gift Basket  

Ice Cream Cake from Mad Maggies

$35 Gift Certificate to New England Seafoods

$25 Gift Certificate to Atkinson Country Club

$25 Gift Certificate to Jamie's Restaurant

$25 Gift Certificate to Palmers Restaurant

$25 Gift Certificate to Outback Steakhouse

$25 Gift Certificate to T.G.I. Fridays

$25 Gift Certificate to Mexico Lindo

$20 Gift Certificate from Stop N Shop

$25 Worth of Free Product from Cedars Foods

Hole Sponsors

 Auclair's Auto Body
  Auto Spa Car Wash
    Bada Bing
    Bada Boom
    BJ's Wholesale Club of Haverhill
    Body Works Auto Body
    Boles Funeral Home
    C & D Auto Glass
    Durso & Jankowski Insurance Agency
    Global Glass
    Jamie's Restaurant
    LaFlemme, Barron & Chabot Attorneys At Law
    LI Designs
    Merrimack Valley Corp. Climate Design Systems
    Merrimack Valley Property Maintenance
Methuen Fire Department Local 1691 (2)

Mike Condon Councilor at Large

Polar Bear Insulation

Ron Marsan Candidate for East District Councilor

The Sweetheart Inn

The Wonderful Businesses Involved

Gardner Graphics
    The Swamptones
    K & K Floral and Design
    Jungle Stuff
    Lounge 59
    Chuckles Comedy Club
    Boston Auto Glass
    Merrimack Valley Golf Club
    Bj's Wholesale Club

September Update For Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale Campaign

National Baking Week Follow Up

Did you know we ran a promotion for Great American Bake Sale's National Baking Week August 29th-September 4th?  If you answered "No" you are not alone!  While we had three of our lovely customers participate by joining our new rewards program The Fat Baker Club, all of us here in the Cookie Central kitchen think that we can do better.  With that said, get ready for the month of October when we will be revisiting our Fat Baker Club/National Baking Week promotion.

During the entire month of October we will be donating 100% of all the membership fees for The FBC to our Great American Bake Sale campaign!  Have plans to thank your clients with our corporate baskets, send a few gift baskets to friends and family, or order some of our wonderful decorated cookies?  With the holidays coming, everyone can benefit from the 5% discount, free cookie basket and monthly giveaways.
Subscribe to our blog.and check out The FBC Blogger page for updates


Cookie Central on The Friends Of Kevin Radio Show
 That's right folks, we hit the airwaves to promote our upcoming golf tournament and talk about Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale season.  A special shout out to WSMN Radio and the incredible Kevin Willet, founder of Friends of Kevin and host to the show! Make sure you check out some of our other YouTube videos we have posted.  PLEASE NOTE*** The Cupcake Wars audition video is not suitable for all audiences.  There's your disclaimer, consider yourselves warned ;)

Great American Golf Tournament 

"Driving For No Kid Hungry"

Well, it's getting close people. Plans for our tourney are rolling right along and boy do we have some awesome prizes!  Tourney winning teams will each receive a foursome to one of three local golf clubs. Raffle prizes range from restaurant gift cards to Adobe products.  We will be joined by Lowell Spinners VP for a silent auction of sports memorabilia.  Whiskey and wine tasting will take place on the course and don't forget the incredibly awesome band we will have during the reception (Dinner & A Show tickets are available for non-golfers).  Needless to say, it's going to be an amazing event, BUT registration closes this Friday. So if you are coming, register now!!

Do You Dine Out?

September 18th marks the beginning of Dine Out For No Kid Hungry.  Restaurants will will support Share Our Strength's efforts to fight childhood hunger in America by offering specials, gifts and promotions from 9/18-9/24.  This is a nationwide event that many of your favorite restaurants may already be involved in, so make sure you check out the Dine Out Map to see who's participating in your area. 

 


Excuse Me While I Take Off For......
It's that time of year and Cookie Central will be closed October 14-18 as we attend Share Our Strength's Conference Of Leaders and Taste Of The Nation Baltimore.  I'm thrilled to say that I've been nominated for the 2011 GABS Community Leadership Award...and not by my mother (whoop, whoop!).  I can only imagine I will be pouring out a whole boat load of tweets during the conference, so if you would like to follow along please follow me on Twitter. 

As always, thank you for reading! ~ Michele Gorham :)

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