HANDS' 25 Years Celebrated

HANDS, a community development corporation in Orange, NJ, celebrated 25 years of work at a party at Luna Stage on Valley Road in West Orange, right around the corner from my house. The November 1st festivities included a bus tour of HANDS' projects, a walking tour of the Valley, an afternoon symposium, and an evening reception with a silent auction of art from local painters and sculptors. It was a bright, sunny day, and we had electricity. Luna Stage is currently showing "The Dangers of Electric Lighting" which is about Thomas Edison. We had a 24-hour power outage over the weekend, so we are closer to "The Dangers of NO Electric Lighting" but I'm excited to see the play. The HANDS symposium took place in the stage set of the Edison play, and it was very intimate and interesting. A highlight of the symposium, which had the theme "The Judo of Community Development," was a demonstration of judo and karate by Shihan Kenneth Lee and his students from Way of the Tiger Martial Arts, a little of Luna on Valley Road. Shihan Lee demonstrated fundamentals of martial arts, including its view of the creation of ethical character, one that is kind and humble, concerned for others. "That," said Patrick Morrissy to Shihan Lee after the demonstration, "is what community development is all about."