FORKS — In two weeks, 20 large sections of the AIDS Quilt will be on display at Forks High School auxiliary gym, 521 N. Forks Ave.
The 12-by-12-foot sections — which are part of the 12,000-piece quilt that travels the country for displays — will go up March 1 and will be available for schools and the public to see until March 6, said Patt Doyle, who organized the show for the third time since 2001.
The quilt has sections that memorialize people who have died of AIDS, she said.
Doyle and another friend created a panel in honor of their friend, Kurt Faust, who died of AIDS. Although the panel she created will not be showing in Forks — it is already traveling the country — another panel will.
Faust did not live on the North Olympic Peninsula.
A Sequim connection
However, two panels in honor of John Boyle will be at the show. Boyle’s parents, Ed and Dolores, live in Sequim.
“They were diligent to come to the last show,” Doyle said.
“So this time I made sure to request that the sections with his name on it would come here.”
The quilt has shown twice before in Forks, once in 2001 and then again in 2006.
It is hosted this time by Quillayute Valley School District and West Olympic Council for the Arts.
While people are walking through looking at the sections, the names of those who have died are read aloud.
She said it often strikes a deep emotional chord with people to hear the names read.
“The best part of the quilt is love,” Doyle said.
“It’s made with love. It has this power.”
A message to send
Although the main purpose of the quilt — which Doyle called the largest art project in the world — is to memorialize those who have died, it also helps spread the message about AIDS, she said.
“HIV is preventable. Every nine and a half minutes, someone in the United States becomes HIV positive,” she said.
The opening ceremonies on March 1 at 11 a.m. will include a speech as well as information about HIV prevention.
All of the school districts from Port Angeles to Amanda Park have been invited to tour the display, Doyle said.
A Sequim man, Alan Brownell, who has battled AIDS for 27 years, will speak to classes about his experiences.
“I tell them what living with the disease is like and the precautions they should take and statistics that people don’t really know about,” Brownell said.
“A lot of people don’t even know they are at risk — but it is everywhere and they don’t realize it.
“There is a whole generation who have grown up with it and aren’t really aware of what it means.
“I want to make them aware that everyone is at risk.”
The complexities
Doyle said that in the past Brownell has spoken and shown the complexities of living with AIDS, including the host of medications and checkups that must be taken.
“I’m 51 years old,” Doyle said, “and for me and a lot of people my generation there was a lot of fear surrounding it because people were dropping like flies.
“But now with people living with it, kids don’t realize what a risk it is.”
The quilt sections will be available for people to view from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, March 1, through Wednesday, March 3.
On Thursday, March 4, and Friday, March 5, they will be up from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On Saturday, March 6, tours will be up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“After that we’ll have a pack-up party and get it ready to get sent off,” Doyle said.
The sections will go back to Atlanta, where their next destinations will be scheduled.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
