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Saturday, December 1, RB World AIDS Day Activities
Each year on World AIDS Day,
hundreds of people in Sussex County, and hundreds of thousands of people
around the world, join together to remember those lost to AIDS and to
renew the public’s promise of support for those living with, and at-risk
for, HIV/AIDS.
World AIDS Day observances in
Rehoboth Beach—and across the state, nation, and the world—will be on
Saturday, December 1, 2007. Activities will begin at 6:15 p.m. as the
community gathers at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand. This will lead into a
candlelight walk through the downtown area and conclude with a “Service
of Remembrance and Hope” at Epworth United Methodist Church, 20
Baltimore Ave.
The service begins at 7 p.m. and
will include musical soloists, dramatic readings, and “the reading of
the names,” in which more than 450 names of people lost to AIDS are read
aloud, will be interspersed throughout the evening’s observance. Names
may be submitted for the reading of the names by calling the SCAC office
at 302-644-1090 or e-mailed to info@scacinc.org. Following the program, a
social gathering will be held in the church basement with a light supper
provided by the Blue Moon.
Panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt
will again be on display during the “Service of Remembrance and Hope.”
Each 12 feet square panel consists of eight individual three foot by six
foot panels sewn together and memorializing the life of a person lost to
AIDS.
According to The Names Project
Foundation, there are now approximately 46,000 quilt panels. If all of the
quilt’s three foot by six foot panels were laid end to end it would
extend more than 52 miles long!
The AIDS Memorial Quilt, started in
1987, is now the largest ongoing community arts project in the world. The
NAMES Project Foundation preserves and loans the AIDS Memorial Quilt to a
network of local chapters and affiliates across the U.S. Organizations in
40 countries have adapted the idea of the Quilt to their own cultural
traditions.
More than mere fabric, the quilt
panels have been lovingly created with a variety of media to specially
remember each person’s life. The names on the AIDS Memorial Quilt
currently represent approximately 17.5 percent of all U.S. AIDS deaths.
More than one million people in the
United States are now living with HIV/AIDS and more than half a million
have died. In Delaware, about 3,500 people have been diagnosed with AIDS
and nearly 1,500 have died from the disease since the first cases were
reported here in 1986. Since tracking began in 2003, more than 1,100
people in Delaware have tested positive for HIV.
Rehoboth’s World AIDS Day
observance is co-sponsored by CAMP Rehoboth and the Sussex County AIDS
Council. The theme of this 20th annual World AIDS Day is “Stop AIDS.
Keep the Promise” with a focus on leadership in the global, and local,
fight against AIDS.
CAMP Rehoboth Student Art
Contest Winners
Contestants in the 2nd Annual CAMP
Rehoboth sponsored World AIDS Day Student Art Contest included students
from Indian River, Sussex Technical and Cape Henlopen High Schools. The
winners are: first place, Megan Sloan, Indian River High School, 10th
grade; second place, Janine Bond, Cape Henlopen High School, 10th grade;
and third place, Desiree Hartung, Indian River High School, 9th grade.
Three students will receive Honorable Mention. They are Jessica Tyler and
Ashley Collins 10th graders from Indian River High School and Abbey
Quillen, a 10th grader from Sussex Tech. Serving as judges for the contest
were Michael Muller, artist and co-owner of Detail: A Gallery for the
Home; Jay Pastore, owner of Gallery 50, and local artist and former
Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner Patti Shreeve.
CAMP Rehoboth chose to sponsor the
Student Art Contest out of deep concern with the latest statistics
released by the Centers for Disease Control. The data establishes that 50%
of all new HIV infections occur in young people under the age of 25. In
addition, national case surveillance data for people ages 13 to 24
revealed that the burden of HIV/AIDS falls most heavily and
disproportionately on black and Hispanic youth. CAMP Rehoboth believes
that accurate, age-appropriate information is our best hope for reducing
these trends for our young citizens. By working with Sussex County school
districts, CAMP Rehoboth hopes to ameliorate this situation.
An exhibition of all the
student’s submissions interpreting the theme “Stop AIDS: Keep the
Promise” will be the opening feature for the World AIDS Day program. The
schedule of events, open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. with the art
reception at CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Avenue. The Candlelight Walk of
Remembrance follows at 6:30, beginning at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand and
ending at Epworth United Methodist Church with a service and light supper.
The student art exhibit will remain
on display at CAMP Rehoboth through December 10th. Beginning December
12th, the exhibit will be relocated to the Rehoboth Beach Public Library
where it will remain through December 29.
Epworth Wall of Healing and
Prayer
As part of the World AIDS Day 2007
observance, Epworth United Methodist Church will host a Wall of Healing,
Remembrance and Prayer. The Wall will be in place on November 18 and
available to the public through the December 1, World AIDS Day events. The
composition of the Wall will allow for messages, prayers, or names to be
written on fabric and tied to the wall as a remembrance of those living
with or having died of AIDS. Photographs are welcome, too. Fabric strips
and waterproof markers will be available at the Wall or at CAMP Rehoboth
for all who wish to add a message to the Wall.
Epworth United Methodist Church has
invited the Lewes Rehoboth Association of Churches to join them in
promoting the Wall of Healing, Remembrance and Prayer among their
congregations.
Photos
Desiree Hartung, Third Place;
Jessica Tyler, Honorable Mention;
Janine Bond, Second Place;
Abbey Quillen, Honorable Mention;
Ashley Collins, Honorable Mention;
Megan Sloan, First Place.
WORLD AIDS DAY Schedule
Nov 18-Dec 1 Add names, ribbons, or
photographs to the Wall of Healing, Remembrance, and Prayer at Epworth
Church, 20 Baltimore Avenue.
Dec 1 • 5:00-6:15 pm
Reception for World AIDS Day Student Art Exhibit & artist Eric
Lerner at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center | 37 Baltimore Avenue
Dec 1 • 6:15-6:30 pm Pre-Walk
gathering and candle lighting at the Rehoboth Bandstand Rehoboth Avenue
and the Boardwalk
Dec 1 • 6:30 pm Candlelight Walk
of Remembrance and Hope begins at the Rehoboth Bandstand | Rehoboth Avenue
and the Boardwalk
Dec 1 • 7:00 pm (or when the walk
ends) Program continues at Epworth United Methodist Church | 20 Baltimore
Avenue
Dec 1 • 7:45 pm (or when the service ends)
Light supper at Epworth church, provided by the Blue Moon Restaurant.
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