Two Hands, None Better- Frances ‘Dolly’ Hand, Born Dec. 20, 1928, Homer Hand, Born Jan. 15, 1928

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Belle Glade without Dolly and Homer Hand would be like Bedford Falls without George Bailey in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life – a far lesser place.
Not only were they instrumental in getting a branch of Palm Beach Community College to the Glades in 1971, but Mrs. Hand was the guiding light for the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center on the campus.
She didn’t know that the center, with its 500-seat theater, was going to be named for her until she drove up to the 1982 opening with then-PBCC president Ed Eissey.
She was the center’s main money-raiser and cheerleader, and the Hands personally donated a substantial sum to build it, but they wanted to keep their contribution “low-key.”
“We do what we do” to help, not for publicity, Mrs. Hand said.
Others are not so reticent. “The whole area is blessed to have them as part of us,” said former Belle Glade mayor Tom Altman in 1997, when Gov. Lawton Chiles and his wife, Rhea, visited Belle Glade to make the couple the first recipients of the Chileses’ Heartland Award for “people who exemplify long-term commitment and service to communities.”
Frances “Dolly” Rutledge, a Belle Glade native, graduated from what thenwas Palm Beach Junior College in 1945. She met Homer Hand, a native of LaBelle, at a Clewiston skating rink. The two married in 1954 and settled in Belle Glade. Mr. Hand is a real-estate investor and Mrs. Hand a non-practicing lawyer.
Together, they have helped the community in more ways than any single person knows.
“I’ve never seen anyone give to a gamut of needs like they have,” Gov. Chiles said in 1997.
Beyond the donations to the PBCC Glades campus, the Hands have provided aid to perhaps 500 students over the years, ranging from full scholarships to clothing. The Hands have helped the Methodist Children’s Home, the Living Christmas Tree project and various churches.
Mrs. Hand was a PBCC trustee from 1973 until 1989. Her successor: Mr. Hand, who was appointed to his third term in 1997.
Eissey once called Dolly Hand “the most exceptional individual I have ever met.”
But her biggest reward comes not from compliments but from the kids she and her husband have helped: “To see those young people succeed is just a wonderful blessing.”
- BILL MCGOUN