Good Day Atlanta viewer information: Feb. 10, 2021

Climbers aim to break down barriers by building walls

The climbers hope the College Park wall will draw new climbers from the local community.

ATLANTA - Climbers aim to break down barriers by building walls:

Walk into College Park’s Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center, and the new addition is impossible to miss: a big indoor rock climbing wall. But the story behind the new attraction is even bigger than the wall itself.

Professional climbers Kai Lightner and Kevin Jorgenson led the way for the new climbing wall, which officially opened to the public late last month. Lightner is the founder of Climbing for Change, an organization dedicated to making the outdoor industry more diverse and inclusive, and Jorgenson is the founder of 1Climb, which has a mission of introducing 100,000 kids to the sport of climbing. With funding from Adidas, the climbers hope the College Park wall will draw new climbers from the local community — especially area youth.

"Throughout my career, it was pretty obvious that I was the only person of color, or the only Black person at least, in most spaces in the climbing industry," says Lightner, a 12-time national climbing champion. "We want to make this community more inclusive, and we think the first step to that is trying to put as much representation into the sport as possible. It really starts with a project like this one."

Metro Atlanta’s Stone Summit Climbing & Fitness is also a partner in the project, helping with wall operations and programming at their own facilities; the City of College Park has also pledged to offer transportation assistance to those interested in climbing.

"And so, we created this triangle of a program that's really going to help kids, inner-city kids, kids who live in public housing to be able to really get into the sport," Lightner says.

The Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center is located at 2300 Godby Road in College Park; the wall is available for use to both city residents and non-residents.

Chef Virginia Willis shares her chicken and dumplings recipe

The Southern chef and cookbook author shares a dish that would be the perfect comfort food for staying in on Valentines Day.

Chef Virginia Willis shares her quick Chicken and Dumplings recipe:

It's a southern staple recipe that brings comfort, and today Southern chef and cookbook author Virginia Willis joins Good Day for a lesson on how to make quick chicken and dumplings. For more information on Virginia Willis visit her website here or follow her on Instagram @virginiawillis. See recipe below.

Virginia Willis’ Quick Chicken and Dumplings

Makes 4 cups with about 20 dumplings

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted nonstick
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 rotisserie chicken, bones and skin discarded, and meat pulled, shredded or chopped into bite-size pieces (about 2 cups)
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Add the milk and butter. Using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. (Heads up: The mixture will be pretty dry.) Mist a saucepan with nonstick spray. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop the dough, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into the simmering stock. Cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through and the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. To assemble, add the chicken and continue to cook until just heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Vivica A. Fox on Black History Month movies

Free streaming service Tubi has an impressive collection of films ready to help celebrate Black History Month.

Vivica A. Fox celebrates Black History Month:

February is Black History Month and the free, FOX-owned streaming service TUBI has an impressive collection of films ready to help you celebrate. Several of them feature veteran and TV and film star Vivica A. Fox. She joins Good Day to talk more about TUBI and her career. For more information click here.