County Of Union Presents Award To Councilman And RAISIN: A MUSICAL At UCPAC

This past Saturday, to celebrate Black History Month, Union County Performing Arts Center, the County of Union, and the City of Rahway hosted an award ceremony to honor Chester Holmes Humanitarian Award recipient Councilman David Brown, followed by a presentation of Raisin: A Musical.

Union County Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella, Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, Freeholder Angela Garretson, Freeholder Rebecca L. Williams, Freeholder Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded, Freeholder Chris Hudak and Freeholder Andrea Staten presented Rahway Councilman David Brown with the eighth annual Chester Holmes Humanitarian Award during the County's Black History Month celebration at the historic Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway. They were joined by New Jersey State Senator Nicholas Scutari, former State Senator Raymond Lesniak, Rahway Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, Holmes' daughter Jackie Grey and friend Candice Frye-Teese.

"Councilman Brown has dedicated his life to public service and to assisting working families, youth and those less-advantaged through his various community endeavors," said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella. "His outstanding contributions to both his hometown of Rahway and Union County exemplify the true meaning and essence of the Chester Holmes Humanitarian Award." The Humanitarian Award was created by the Freeholder Board in honor of the late former Freeholder Chester Holmes, who was known for his lifelong dedication to community service.

Afterwards, a free presentation of Raisin: A Musical was performed on the Main Stage. Raisin is an adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun, with music by Judd Woldin and Lyrics by Robert Brittan. This production was directed by Khy Garner and conducted by Teddy Kernizan.

The show is about a black family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. The story focuses on housing discrimination and redlining; the discriminatory practice of fencing off areas and communities to specifically deny them services often based on race and income level.

Garner said the best part of working on this production was that "the cast are all volunteers, they all are here because they want to be. Some of them are driving from far away and they all have professional jobs, but they're here dedicating their time because it matters to them."