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Lighting a flame of hope for those with AIDS

By LYDIA WHEELER lwheeler@poststar.com | Posted: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 10:10 pm | (0) Comments

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STAFF T.J. Hooker - thooker@poststar.com Glens Falls

GLENS FALLS -- Dozens of people gathered Tuesday night in City Park to share a flame and light white candles, representing hope for those battling HIV and AIDS and a remembrance of those who have lost the fight.

After everyone's candles were lit, they walked down Ridge Street and over to Glen for a memorial program at the Charles R. Wood Theater to celebrate Worlds AIDS Day.

Erica Monroe of Brant Lake was one of about 60 people in attendance Tuesday night.

"I'm here with a family member who has HIV," she said. "I want to make things good for him and support him as much as I can."

Before taking a seat in the theater, each participant was given a card carrying the name of someone who has died of AIDS. During the memorial, as organizers read the names, the cardholders stood to represent a life they never knew, in some cases; in others, they stood for a loved one.

Carolee Sipowicz stood in memory of her son Michael, who died of AIDS in 1992 at the age of 30.

Sipowicz has been the chairwoman for the candlelight vigil and memorial service in Glens Falls on World AIDS Day for the last four years. She volunteers for the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York.

Although Sipowicz didn't speak about her son to those at the theater, others who have been affected by the disease did.

After performing two songs, vocalist Gisella Montanez-Case spoke about a friend, John, with whom she performed in the show "Evita."

"There are not very many diseases that destroy a life like AIDS does," she said as she choked back tears. "If you've ever seen someone on the last few days before they die, they are just a shell of a former life."

Montanez-Case urged the crowd not to forget those lost to AIDS.

"Stand up for a cure for this horrible thing that killed the people that we love," she said.

The AIDS Council of Northeastern New York serves HIV/AIDS positive residents of the tri-county region, said Laurie Lanphear.

In Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, Lanphear said, live 60 to 65 people who use the council's services.

"There are many more than that that are positive in our area, but they don't come to our office," she said.

Dan Dunklee, health educator for Warren County Public Health, said the latest state numbers, from 2007, list 66 people in Warren County with HIV or AIDS, excluding those who are incarcerated.

Washington County Health Educator Lauralee Tucker said she couldn't disclose the number of positive people in the county.

"Because the county is so small, identifying a number could be detrimental to their confidentiality," she said.

"There are issues in our county definitely, but we offer a lot of wonderful resources," Tucker said.

Washington County holds free STD clinics every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the McEchron House on Ridge Street in Glens Falls and the Department of Public Health offers free rapid HIV testing, where patients receive results within 20 minutes.

According to www.aids.org, about 36 million people are living with HIV or AIDS worldwide. According to the state Health Department Web site, 120,000 New Yorkers were living with HIV/AIDS as of December 2007.

"This is a small town and folks still think HIV isn't here," said Renee Hiscock, a case manager for the AIDS Council of Northeastern N.Y.

The candlelight vigil and memorial, Hiscock said, is a good way to show people who have the disease that the community cares.

For more information about HIV/AIDS, contact the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York at 743-0703.

Posted in Local on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 10:10 pm Updated: 10:13 am.

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