In the pre-dawn hours of August 1st, pictures were still being put in place, banners raised, books delivered, situations reported, and despite the unfinished look, there were only hours before True Parents' car would arrive. As is customary, and always miraculous, in the last remaining minutes, the clutter disappeared and Belvedere truly lived up to its name. This time the view was not only beautiful because of the river, the old trees and recently groomed lawns and garden. It became even more beautiful because of the celebration itself. Six huge tents were raised, boats brought in on trailers, banners hoisted, balloons blown up, games erected and devised, food stands and more. Then in the hour before True Parents were to arrive, a cascade of families came across the lawns to attend the 20th Anniversary of the Oceanic Providence here in America.

Many had been working almost tirelessly for weeks and months before the cutting of the ribbon by Father, Mother, Hyo Jin Nim, Mr. Kamiyama, Mr. Oyamada, Mr. Park and Mr. Kobayashi. For some, the importance of this whole event only took shape as the tents rose, as the displays were put in place and as the extent of what has been developed in the past twenty years became apparent through this celebration. For Father and Mother, this event visually and substantially displayed the fruit of their years of sustained effort in the oceanic realms.

In the process of developing the plans for this celebration, part of the initial idea was to erect a temporary museum, and eventually to build a permanent one. So we would start with an exhibit that could eventually take its place in an Ocean Museum. As Father's seriousness regarding this celebration began to hit home, the celebration project gradually got larger and larger.

At 9:50 am, Father's and Mother's car arrived and they prayed and cut the ribbon. They then quickly walked through the exhibits before going on over to the main marquee for the main ceremony. The program commenced as Dr. Baughman led the two thousand who had gathered in a welcoming cheer and greetings. Reverend Joong Hyun Pak gave the opening prayer and Mr. Michael Runyon walked us through a history of these first twenty years. Mr. Runyon was himself involved with International Oceanic Enterprises, Inc. from its inception, informed/reminded us of the milestones of this oceanic providence. Thus showing us an outline of the development of the oceanic activities through these twenty years.

Following Mr. Runyon, Mr. Sang Kwon Park, the present president of International Oceanic Enterprises, Inc. gave his congratulatory remarks and presented a gift to Reverend and Mrs. Moon. The gift was a golden trophy of a person with a book in one hand and an fishing rod in the other, symbolizing the two main areas Father has focused on during these foundational years-education and food.

The program moved on to the keynote speech given by Reverend Moon. The heat and humidity of the day grew more intense under the tents, but little deterred Father from giving his perspective on these twenty years followed by an outline of his vision for the future. His view integrates the essential human needs for education and food through food production, international exchange and travel.

After the three celebratory cheers of "mansei," all who had come had a chance to look over the exhibits themselves, take a boat ride, sample some seafood or take their children to catch eels, fish and go on a small carnival ride. To top this off, the children could get themselves thoroughly sticky with cotton candy or Italian Ice while the parents enjoyed free lunch, courtesy of the Celebration Committee.

Having the New Hope, Sea Hope and other boats on display was important. August 1st was the day we took delivery of New Hope back in 1974 and was the beginning point of this twenty year history. Getting New Hope to Belvedere was a story in itself. It is no small vessel to trailer and it had to be brought in through the fence from Lyndhurst, as none of the gates to Belvedere were wide enough. Tearing down stone fences was no option. Even to bring in Sea Hope through the front gate (made it by an inch either side), the steel mantle had to be removed

True Parents returned to Belvedere around 5:30 p.m. to take more time to review the pictorial history of these long twenty years before returning for the evening meeting at East Garden.

On August 2nd, the exhibits were open again, there were more games and activities for children, door prizes and samples to be sampled. There was also a visit from the Irvington Fire Brigade who will be receiving a 28' Good Go for their search and rescue operations. Four people from the New York Police Department also came by to attend the Ocean Perspectives morning session which reviewed the Ocean Challenge program, what it is, what it has to offer New York's youth as it is doing in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The afternoon session of the Ocean Perspectives focused on technology and the topic of food for emergency relief. Ms. Kathy Winings from IRFF (International Relief Friendship Foundation) and Mr. David Rogers of International Seafoods of Alaska were the focus of the afternoon discussions. The net result of this symposium was that within this month of August, the first shipment of fish powder produced in Kodiak, Alaska has gone to Rawanda to be used to feed the refugees there.

Those who were part of the Celebration Committee hoped to communicate through the whole celebration, not only the honoring of the achievements of Father and Mother, but also to communicate and pass on the inspiration and substance of the oceanic foundation. The level of the foundation Father had tirelessly worked on was not just the individual level, nor was he simply fishing to feed his family or to establish an economic foundation for America or Korea or Japan. His efforts were directed at establishing the foundation needed to be an effective world parent.

The desire of a world parent is to education and feed the children of the world. This has been Father's passion, often an obscure quest to those watching him daily leave the docks here at the Hudson River or in Alaska, or Hawaii, or the Gulf of Mexico, or Florida waters, or Australia, of Korea. But as people gathered from all over the world to celebrate the culmination of these first twenty years, we also celebrated the establishment of a world-level foundation from which this heart of a world parent can multiply. It is a foundation that is not only one of prayer, vision or intent, but one of substance.

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