AIDS quilt panels to be on display around NNY

AIDS Memorial Quilt panels will be on display throughout the north country beginning Nov. 30 to honor people who have died of the disease.

Angela M. Foster, program coordinator for AIDS Community Resources' Teaching Awareness Through Friends, said 32 panels will be shown that each tell the story of a person's life cut short by AIDS.

"A panel is the size of a coffin, and they're being designed that way for a reason," she said of the 6-by-3-foot panels. "They're designed that size because it's a human grave."

The full quilt has more than 46,000 panels and more than 91,000 names on it. It covers 1,293,000 square feet and weighs more than 54 tons.

Ms. Foster said the panels have personal touches on them, including teddy bears on children's panels, notes to parents from children, drawings, phrases and decorative items.

"There's still a lot of stigma and stereotype left in the world that 'If I'm not gay or a prostitute, or don't use IV drugs, it's not my problem,'" Ms. Foster said. "When you are standing in front of a panel that was designed for a teenager, it is very hard to keep those stigmas in place. This very, very openly shows HIV and AIDS can strike anyone at any time."

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1.

The panel will be on display:

■ Nov. 30 at Watertown High School, 1335 Washington St.

■ Dec. 1 at Indian River High School, Philadelphia.

■ Dec. 6 at New Life Christian Church, 1222 Arsenal St.

■ Dec. 8 at SUNY Potsdam's multipurpose room in Barrington Student Union, Potsdam.

■ Dec. 9 at Colton-Pierrepont Central School, Colton.

■ Dec. 10 at Clifton-Fine High School, Star Lake.

■ Dec. 11 at St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, Ogdensburg.

For more information, go to the AIDS Memorial Quilt Web site or call Ms. Foster at 785-8222, ext. 151.

ON THE NET

AIDS Memorial Quilt:

www.aidsquilt.org