Dear students, parents and friends,
We have all been witnessing the slow changes going on at the dojang as we prepare to move out of our 4800 square foot palace of a dojang. Earlier in May, we had a Saturday where we cleared most of the walls. The dozen students who helped spontaneously followed a list of things that must come down. At the end there was nothing but white walls. It really shocked me the second time I saw the empty walls but then it got me thinking. Soon I felt the white walls were a sign of purity. White, as in our dobuks, means purity. There is nothing overbearing. There is no flash and pizzazz! Simple and basic is the root of our training. Taekwon-Do is “the way of the hand and foot”. Although it was nice to have all those historic items of proof of what our dojang has done and has been…but the very best of all of that is what is inside of each and every one of us. The lessons we learn and the self-control we gain will be passed on to our families and friends and those are the treasures we will always have. We don’t need any material objects to become outstanding Black Belts and outstanding citizens in our community. All the history covered the walls. Some of us remember when many of the pictures were taken. Some of us looked at it as a history lesson about folks you never trained with but you knew they were TKD students on your same road. That does build pride but it’s not what we did in the past that matters- it’s what we will do today, at this moment and in the future.
The walls look clean and uncluttered- as we all try to make our lives. We’ve been having a SILENT AUCTION since that Saturday. Everything that must go has a yellow tag and number and folks have been putting in their bids. Our SILENT AUCTION will be completed so winning bids can be picked up Saturday, June 15. This will give us enough time to offer the remaining items to an internet yard sale. Big items like the showcases surrounding the reception area and the mirrors are items that please if you are interested, talk to me.
We are planning a “Last Class In the Dojang” on Thursday, June 27. We will have our usual 6-7 pm and 7-8 pm. The following evening, Friday, June 28 we will be have some snacks and refreshments as we move and/or discard the rest of the stuff and perhaps lift some screws out of the floor. I don’t want to tie up our student’s whole weekend, so whatever day or time works well for you and your family, your presence would be appreciated. Saturday morning, June 29th we lift the floor. Many folks have asked for pieces of the floor for their own projects and that is fine but I ask that those folks pick them up on that day. At the end of the day I’d like the warehouse dojang to be empty. We need screw guns and long crowbars for Saturday. Under our 5/8 inch and ¾ inch tongue in groove we have 2 x 3’s every 14 inches. That means we have lots of 2 x 3’s that might not be very straight anymore. Folks are welcome to them as well.
LOCATION CHANGE FROM LAST MONTH
Monday, July 1 classes begin at our new location, changed and updated since last month. Through the help of one of our parents, we have secured a large banquet room in the basement of Franconia Heritage Restaurant, Allentown Road and Route 113 (Harleysville Pike). Students can enter through the restaurant front doors and down the ramp to our dojang. There is an outside (private) entrance on the right side of the building but at this time I’m not sure if we will be able to use it consistently. The dojang room has a high ceiling and the concrete floor nicely carpeted. We will have class Monday 6-7 pm that first night as well as from 7-8 pm. We need at least 8 students each hour to pay for the room and instruction. Lately at the dojang the 7-8 pm class has less than a handful of students. The 7-8 pm class is for all adults and Black Belt kids. Tuesdays we will not have Taekwon-Do class. Our Wednesday evening will be the same as it is now: 6-7 pm kids/parents, 7-8 pm Black Stripes and above. Thursdays we’ll have our Tigers class from 5:30-6 pm. We will have a class from 6-7 pm for all students, all ranks. At this time we are not planning on a 7-8 pm class Thursday but please let me know if you would attend that hour regularly and if we have enough interest, we will add the class. Friday we will have no class. Saturday we will have our regular 9:30-10:30 am class. I’ll be taking the kids and Mr. Carpenter will have everyone else just like we do now.
This new location we are paying rent by the hour so I have to make sure we have enough students attending to pay the costs. This will be much more efficient from our dojang’s point of view and I’m hoping students will commit to certain days and times and stick to it.
Communication is key with this transformation. Please talk to me with concerns and ideas. A big plus for our new location is having the restaurant close for coffees and such. When a dojang changes locations, it is a wonderful time to be a part of it. The new history is being written and you are part of the transformation. Your presence will help continue to shape our dojang….always evolving and always progressing. In this case one step back, then two steps forward.
Many sincere thanks,
Mark Cashatt
OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Every month Master Cashatt chooses a youth gup (color belt) who has shown outstanding characteristics in class. Every student has a chance to be named once in their gup life. In April every year Master Cashatt names the dojang’s youth “OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF THE YEAR” from the youth roster of the dojang. This promotes a constant reminder for the kids to do their best! This month Master Cashatt has chosen:
MAX GONZALEZ
Max moved up from our TIGERS program in February and has taken to the big class very well. He is eager and courageous in keeping up with the other students and that’s why he earned this award. His spirit will grow on all of us as an inspiration. Congratulations to Max and the Gonzalez family.
SAVE THE
DATES!
- JUNE 13…GUP TEST starts at 6 pm.
- JUNE 15…SILENT AUCTION ENDS at 9 AM- top bids can pick up their merchandise ASAP!
- JUNE 15….DOJANG ADVENTURE to the IRON PIGS BASEBALL GAME- contact Master Cashatt if you’d like tickets- we might have a few left.
- JUNE 27..Thursday, LAST CLASSES AT THE PRESENT DOJANG!
- JUNE 28…Friday, 6 pm, we clear the floors and prepare for the floor’s disassembling. Refreshments, pizza and social time during and after we’re as ready as can be.
- JUNE 29…Saturday, 8:30 AM DISASSEMBLING THE FLOOR! We need strong folks, screw guns with extension cords, long crow bars. Wouldn’t be good for our younger kids to help- teenagers and above please. I have some gloves but if you have a pair of work gloves, bring them. Hoagies and refreshments will be served at lunch time.
- JULY 1… Monday, FIRST CLASS AT THE HERITAGE BANQUET ROOM, 6-7 pm then 7-8 pm.
- JULY 18…GUP TEST starts at 6 pm.
- OCTOBER 4-6….UATW (Ultimate Adult TKD Weekend) at Camp Oak Hill, Nottingham PA. Participants must be age 21 and above.