Jan 10 is the last chance to submit nominations for names to be added to the last two panels of the AIDS Memorial.
“With that in mind,” says Vancouver AIDS Memorial Society executive director Catherine Ewing, “we have room for another 200 names. We already have about 98 at the moment.”
The monument, overlooking English Bay just west of the concession stand at Sunset Beach, is a ribbon of steel panels bearing the names of about 800 people with connections to BC who succumbed to the ravages of AIDS.
It took over eight years of red tape, controversy and fundraising to finally bring the vision of the memorial to fruition. It was finally unveiled just in time for Pride 2004, and Ewing expects the last two planned panels to be completed and installed early in the spring of 2006.
“I think the AIDS Memorial is an education opportunity as well as a place to honour those who have been lost to AIDS,” she says. “It’s important for people to remember that this virus is still with us.”
Ewing says anyone with a connection to BC who died with AIDS is eligible to have their names recorded on the monument. To make a nomination go to www.aidsmemorial.ca or call the Vancouver AIDS Memorial Society at 604.216.7031.
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