Glens Falls to Celebrate World AIDS Day

GLENS FALLS, NY (11/07/2007)(readMedia)-- Saturday, December 1, 2007 is World AIDS Day. Join the greater Glens Falls Community and local volunteers from the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York with support from the HIV/AIDS Coalition of the Saratoga Region for a memorial program beginning at 3:00 pm at the Bandstand in Glens Falls City Park. Mayor Le Roy B. Akins, Jr. will begin the program by reading the World AIDS Day Proclamation, followed by a candlelight walk to The Hyde Collection. Those who do not wish to walk can meet in the Hyde Collection’s Helen Froehlich Auditorium at 4:00 pm, where a musical performance and program in memory of those in our community who have died from AIDS and those who are living with the disease will begin. The Hyde Collection will display a local panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The AIDS Quilt began in 1987 as a memorial to those who died of AIDS. The AIDS Quilt has grown to a 54-ton tapestry that includes more than 45,000 panels dedicated to more than 88,000 individuals. It is the largest piece of community art in the world.

The guest speaker is photographer and activist, Dona Ann McAdams. McAdams will present a slide show and discuss her experiences at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, as well as her link to the nonprofit group Visual AIDS, that came up with the idea to create a Red Ribbon as what is now the global symbol in the fight against AIDS. Maria Zemantauski, one of the world’s few heralded female flamenco guitarists, and one of even fewer female flamenco composers will perform. Mezzo-Soprano Gisella Montanez-Case, will provide vocal entertainment. NYSMA Soloist Kelsey Finley, a 16 year old Fort Ann High School Junior will also perform. The evening will close with a selection played on bagpipes by Allan Clugston, a member of the Galloway Gaelic Pipes and Drums.

Donations of personal toiletry items will be accepted at The Hyde Collection for distribution by the AIDS Council to those affected by HIV and AIDS in our community. Light refreshments will be served during the meet and greet reception after the program. For more information about the event, please contact Laurie Lanphear at 518-743-0703.

The AIDS Council of Northeastern New York is a not-for-profit human service agency whose mission is to reduce the risk, fear, and incidence of HIV infection, encourage the independence of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS and to promote understanding of their needs. In operation for 23 years, the AIDS Council is the preeminent provider of AIDS services in a fifteen county region in Upstate New York with offices in Albany, Hudson Falls, Plattsburgh, Schenectady, Hudson, and Troy.

The HIV/AIDS Coalition of the Saratoga Region provides community education and plans and advocates for HIV/AIDS related services. They strive to give people and families living with HIV/AIDS the full measure of their expertise with kindness, gentleness, and concern.

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