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.

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(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

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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.