October 15, 2005, 5:30 PM:
The Silver Celebration 25th anniversary of the Asian Pacific
Development Center (APDC) started at 5:30 PM, attended by a packed
Donald Seawell Ballroom of the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
After the arrival and cocktails for an hour, the guests were warmly
welcomed by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who praised the accomplishments
of the APDC and announced it as the APDC day of the City and County
of Denver.
A part of the audience at the Donald
Seawell Ballroom, DCPA
Mayor's speech was followed by a speech by Manick Sorcar who
congratulated the APDC for doing such an outstanding job for the
last 25 years and expressed his gratefulness to the committee
for selecting Manick Sorcar Productions to perform the grand opening
item of the event of this magnitude. He gave a brief introduction
of what was to be followed on the stage and requested all patrons
to be comfortably seated to enjoy the unique program. "Enlightenment
of Buddha" started sharp at 7:00 PM. The extravaganza
of dance, drama, magic in combination with life-size laser animation,
various forms of intelligent lighting, and three dimensional laser
effects in space took the audience to approximate 600 BC India, where a meditating
Siddhartha Gautama (whom the whole world will know as
Buddha later) remained undisturbed and attained enlightenment
despite constant disruption from enemy Mara and his
evil power of black magic. The opening entertainment filled the
room with awe and brought an inspiring evening to the Silver Celebration
of the organization, which is devoted to promote the well-being
and health of the Asian American /Pacific Islander community by
bridging generations, cultures, and languages through cultural
programs and services.
.
(Left) A scene from Enlightenment of Buddha,
(Right) Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper in praise of the show

Forest catches ghostly fire in a scene from Enlightenment of Buddha
. 
Manick Sorcar thanks the audience
The opening ceremony was followed by formal dinner and entertainment
presentations by Gamelon Tunas Mekar, Mongolian Traditional Mask,
Denver Taiko, a silent auction, and an award presentation celebration.
Apart from Denver Mayor John Hickenloopr, the distinguished guests
included Lakewood Mayor Steve Burkholder, Kelly Maher (Constituent
Liaison with Congressman Bob Beauprez), Tom Migaki of the City
of Denver, and Richard Poole, from Senator Wayne Allard's office.
The emcee for the event was popular newscaster Bertha Lynn of
KMGH-TV, Channel 7 of Denver, Colorado.
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