CHAIRMAN’S LETTER

Dear Members and Guests,

As the father of two wonderful children, I often have the pleasure of seeing things through their eyes. Still, I am frequently surprised at my children’s perspectives about some things that I take for granted — like lunch at the club. So I particularly enjoyed the letters written by elementary school students to Executive Chef Michael "Gabe" Gabrielson of the Piedmont Club in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Late this spring, Chef Gabe invited area students to write letters, stating why their class should come to the Piedmont Club for lunch. Some 60 classes from 20 schools in Forsyth County participated in the contest.

The chef and the club’s staff read more than 1,200 letters.

The students were quite creative in devising their reasons to win the lunch. The letters reflected insight, with such rationales as "seeing a business in action ... expanding our minds to many fascinating careers."

Other letters exhibited foresight: "getting some good recipes for Mother’s Day."

And practicality: "an awesome opportunity to try new foods."

Even plain old honesty: "We’d rather have lunch at the White House, but the Piedmont Club would be almost as much fun."

Chef Gabe and the club staff understandably had a difficult time choosing three winners from so many heartwarming and endearing letters. "All were winners to me," he said. Finally, classes from Piney Grove Elementary, Sherwood Forest Elementary, and Vienna Elementary were named the grand prize winners. And some 90 students from three classes arrived to ride the glass "alligators," as one student pronounced, to the club’s 19th-floor quarters in the BB&T Financial Center in downtown Winston-Salem. Club manager Peter Grzan recalled that, when the elevator doors opened, a hush fell over the kids: "You could see the awe on their faces."

Equally fun were the follow-up "thank yous." One class made Chef Gabe a hand-painted recipe box. Teachers said the students experienced firsthand how the club enriches lives within the community. I even think we might have planted the seeds to grow some future chefs for our clubs and resorts. After all, many of the letters reflected the importance of food in the lives of the students and their desire for "good, nutritional food" — you know, as one letter explained, "like chocolate mousse."

Robert H. Dedman Jr.
Chairman and CEO
ClubCorp

Photography by Danny Hurley.