Concert in the Park in Brunswick Forest

The first Concert in the Park at Annsdale Park in Brunswick Forest in Leland, NC was held June 11, 2010. The Coastline Band opened this summer's concert season and a huge crowd turned out. These concerts are free and open to the public, they last from 6-9PM and are clearly family-friendly events.

Groups of dancers pop up all over the park, with participants young and old.



Watch how this young girl gets her dad to dance (not that it looks like he needs much encouragement!):



We saw plenty of friends at the concert. Here's Marge (on the right) with Ellen Clifford and Joan Papp.



Cape Fear National golf course, the fabulous new Tim Cate-designed course in Brunswick Forest had a booth. Cape Fear National will host the L.A. Open this fall, a signature golf tournament sponsored by the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce on October 23rd.



Below I'm standing (on the left) with Cape Fear National Marketing Director Brad Walker and Executive Chef Randy Tugwell.



Later on, during a break, a line of people were dancing.



As usual in Brunswick Forest, Marge and I had a great time at this event. Thanks again to the developers who continue to sponsor and promote the Concerts in the Park.

Villages at Brunswick Forest Business After Hours

It was raining pretty hard yesterday, but that didn't stop the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours held under a tent in the front parking lot of the Villages of Brunswick Forest retail and commercial area.

A good sized crowd ran through the rain to get under the tent to eat, drink, network, and listen to the Sea Pans band.

On hand to be sure people got what they needed were Amanda Spencer, Kate Piediscalzo, and Tasha Yarolin.

Cape Fear National golf course Marketing Director Brad Walker.


East Carolina Bank's Brian Hartzell and Sidney Rabon of Coastal ChemDry.

Bruce Brown of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty and Wendy Hunt who was photographing the event for North Brunswick Magazine.

Brunswick County Sherriff's office Clint Simpson and Joe Scoggins flanking NBCC chamber staff member Mary Anne Fagerquist.

YMCA's Kelly Soffee, David Spetrino, Jr. of Plantation Builders, and NBCC Executive Director Dana Fisher.

Kelly and Dana.

New NBCC board member Ken Schiess and his wife Gina Schiess.


Kerry Kasotky of Health Choice One, Carolyn Pirnat of Asset Storage, and Monica Clark of Cape Fear Business Services.

Marge Brown of SendOutCards.

Marge, Bruce, and Wendy.

Marilyn and Greg Darrow.


David Kubes of Brunswick Forest Realty.

Marilyn Darrow and new board member Terry Grillo of Capeside Animal Hospital.

Mike Eakins of CopyPro and Nick Arbia of ADT.


Seated NBCC board member Mike Leggett of the Local News Review, board member Jeff Harvell of Nancy Hall Publications, Mark Koval of Brunswick Community in Schools, and board member Frank Williams of Patriot Systems public relations.

Exceedingly proud new dad Ray Borges with Marge.

Scott and Connie Reeves of Azalea Plaza.


Trace and Peggy McKay.

Ward Vaugh and Eddie Hughes of ATMC with Steve West of N2 Publishing. (Looks like they did get the shirt memo.)

Wendy at work showing Jeff a photo while NBCC President George Murray and Mark stand by.

Plantation Builders in Brunswick Forest! Pre-Parade of Homes Party

David Spetrino's Plantation Builders has started selling homes in the Shelmore "village" area of Brunswick Forest. Like the other homes in Shelmore Plantation Builder's models have front porches, picket fences, and rear garages with small yards. The model below, where the party was, just went under contract but they're ready to build more.


If you're not familiar with Plantation Builders and the style, type, and quality work that David's company provides, you're in for a treat. Much of the company's work is in downtown Wilmington and the surrounding area. They build custom homes and condos and in the downtown area often do stunning restoration/renovation construction. That's David in the white shirt and tie in the photo below.



You'll really have to see the model to get a sense of how much living and storage space is provided in this seemingly "small" home. We were shaking our heads as we went from room to room and, particularly on the second floor, in the amazingly ample walk-in storage. With the various configuration options in these homes you can never say you don't have enough storage.


So when you get a chance, stop by Plantation Builders' Parade of Homes entry in Brunswick Forest this weekend or, if it's sometime later and you're looking to buy a great new home with incredible storage, fine finish details, and family-friendly living spaces, all in a super new neighborhood in the an amenity-packed community in the greater Wilmington area, call me. I'd love to take you to see it.


Great job, David, that house is fabulous.

Jim Bradshaw, Director of Economic Development

On Tuesday March 16th, Jim Bradshaw, Director of Economic Development for North Carolina's Brunswick County, gave an annual overview and direction presentation at the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce's monthly speaker luncheon at Antonio's Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Leland, NC.

We had a great turnout . Seated below are Joyce Fields of Cape Fear Credit Union and Leslie Morgan, Linda Cline and Doug Jackson of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty.


Poe Butler of H2Go and NBCC board member Mike Leggett of Local News Review.


Dave Seaton of Pestco Extermination and Jamie Shoemaker of Cape Fear Merchant Services.


Two officers from the Brunswick County Sheriff's office.


Randy Larsen of East Coast Staging and Susan Cruse of East Carolina Bank.


Frances and Walter Denniger.


Ken Schiess of HDVest, Connie Reeves of Azalea Plaza, and Sharon Forsman of Prudential Real Estate.





Brendan Morris and Lee Ann Mitchell of Comfort Suites Magnolia Greens.


Speaker and Economic Development Director Jim Bradshaw and NBCC board member Jeff Harvell.


The fabulous Razzano sisters, Alice and Jean.


Dave Foster and John Garrity of Holmes Electric Security.


Jeff Harvell, Micki Sharpe and NBCC board member Peggy O'Leary, both of Premier Staffing, and Mag Green Comfort Suites manager Barry Eagle.



Dave Foster kicked off the luncheon by a giving a pretty interesting history of Holmes Electric Security company. Did you know it was founded by Oliver Wendell Holmes? No, not that one, but another guy. Interesting history. Thanks, Dave.


And Jim gave a wonderful presentation as usual of all the activity in Brunswick County economic development. Needless to say, the future looks bright. It's also the case that we're fortunate that even today there are many project proceeding in full swing to raise the business and employment profiles of our county.

Thanks again, Jim. And thanks for all your work.

There's a New Sheriff (Office) in Town!

Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram hosted and officiated at the ribbon-cutting/grand opening of the new Sheriff's Department Office Substation in front of Brunswick Forest, conveniently next to Port City Java (okay, so I stole that joke from Sheriff Ingram, who also said he hoped a donut shop didn't open next door).

Right up front it bears saying that the developers of Brunswick Forest have donated the office space for use by the Sheriff's office. Developer Jeff Arp was on the scene but as usual stayed in the far background. Many companies and people donated services, supplies and equipment, including BB&T Bank, Walmart, Brunswick Electric Membership Corp., and Holmes Security who donated the security system (and as Sheriff Ingram also joked, "I sure hope someone doesn't try to break in to our office.")

The turnout was unexpectedly huge. My quick count/estimate was 150-200 people including so many photographers that we even got bored taking photos of each other! There was a color guard with a presentation of the colors to formally open the office and even a tent to keep the rain and sun off spectators.

One of the coolest parts of the whole deal from my perspective was they used crimescene tape instead of the usual big red ribbon for the cutting.























(You'll notice there are no donuts on these tables. There were some, but they went fast.)
























Blog note: You may notice I didn't do my usual name-every-person-I-identify thing with this blog post. Some are named in the Facebook album for the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office Grand Opening and please feel free to tag more people's names in that. I let the photos do most of the talking in the blog post. - Bruce Brown

Also, I invite you all to sign up for my newsletter, Bruce Brown at the Edge, for people who want to live and work in alignment with their passions. Try it, you can always easily unsubscribe (but I hope you won't want to.)

Join Our Email List

Email: