TOM RITTER

DECEMBER 5, 1997 GAY PEOPle's ChrONICLE 11

IN BOX

Food, supplies are being collected for people with AIDS

by Doreen Cudnik

Cleveland-It's that time of year again— time to go through your cabinets and collect all of the canned food, soap, toiletries, and other non-perishable items you've been hoarding up all year and give them away to someone who may be less fortunate.

Jon Brittain Florist, the Gay People's Chronicle and Outlines magazine are conducting the Ninth Annual Food Drive of the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland's FACT program, Facing the AIDS Challenge Together. The campaign kicked off on the day after Thanksgiving and will run until January 2.

Jon Brittain started the food drive in 1988 at a time when resources for people with HIV and AIDS were scarce.

"When we started, we only had the food that was donated by people like Jon Brittain," said Taskforce food bank coordinator Susan Drazdik. "Things have changed some, we now have a budget, a staff dietitian and we are currently able to give out up to 15 full balanced meals at a time per client."

Even so, Drazdick added, "We always

need volunteers and more donations."

The food bank currently has an operating cost of over $45,000 per year. Last year they gave away 2,600 bags of food; this year's numbers have surpassed that already.

Many Cleveland businesses have contributed to make this year's food drive a success; among them Billy's Northcoast Café, Flex and Club Cleveland spas, and the nightclubs Legends, M.J.'s Place, Muggs, Ohio City Oasis, the 5¢ Decision, the Cage, the Grid, the Hawk, the Leather Stallion Saloon (which will dedicate all of their Dec. 9 proceeds to the food drive), the Rec Room, Rockies, Rudy's, Sexx and U4ia.

Donations are presently being accepted at these locations. Checks and money orders are also being collected. For more information about the food drive, contact the Taskforce at 216-621-0766.

A ribbon to wear, or a condom?

Cleveland-In response to World AIDS Day, on December 12 the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art will host an evening of

In addition to the performance piece, the Red Hot Organization (Fighting AIDS Through Popular Culture) will provide videos featuring artists such as Annie Lennox, Seal, and the recently-out George Michael. Also on view will be a retrospective installation of T-shirts by Nightsweats & T-cells, an organization owned and operated by people living with AIDS.

"Since the beginning of this epidemic, the arts have lead the response to AIDS with honesty and integrity," Chaich said. "Wear & Care continues this work by involving and engaging young adults from the community. By focusing on more than red ribbons and condoms, Wear & Care encourages young adults to use protection and show compassion."

Tickets for the event are $4 for CCCA members and $5 for non-members. Some of the proceeds from the event will go to Planned Parenthood of Cleveland, where Chaich works as a community educator. For more information call 216-421-8671.

Swimming club makes a splash

Columbus-Back in October, eighteen swimmers from Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati competed at the 10th annual International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) championships, held in San Diego. The excitement and goodwill experienced by these swimmers--many of whom will go on to compete at the Gay Games next summer in Amsterdam-inspired them to form a club, the Ohio Splash.

Previously the Columbus Swim Club, Ohio Splash currently has over fifty swimmers on its roster. While competitive swimming is Splash's primary focus, the group is encouraging any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender swimmer to come and join them for good exercise-especially over the lethargic winter months-fun, and camaraderie.

"All the swimmers who went to San Diego [came] home really charged up about the future of the combined Ohio team," said Grant Wilson, who captained the team that brought home 10 gold, 5 silver, I bronze and 14 ribbons from the three-day meet. Plans

Three models, played by Ebani Edwards, Malcolm T. Holt, and Daniel D'Andrea (l to r), talk about condoms in So What Are You Wearing?

performance, fashion, music, and AIDS prcvention education. The event, titled "Wear & Care," will take place at 7:00 p.m. at the center's space at 8501 Carnegie Avenue.

The highlight of the evening is So What Are You Wearing? aperformance piece written and directed by John Chaich and produced by Young Artist-Activists Motivated About AIDS, or YAAMAA. Combining costume and commentary, the piece asks the audience, "So what are you wearing, a condom or a red ribbon?”

are underway to merge the Ohio swimmers into a unified ILGA team that will compete as one beginning in January.

Practices are held twice

a week in Columbus: Fridays at 7:30 p.m. at the YWCA downtown, and Sundays at 6:00 p.m. at the Hunter Recreation Center in Victorian Village. A third weekly session will be added in the near future.

For more information about joining the club, call Grant Wilson at 614299-0302.

Bring bears and toys for kids

Cincinnati-The Cincinnati Chaps, a social club for men, is joining forces with Rosie's Tavern and Shooter's bar for the sixth annual "Bears for Kids" toy drive.

Six years ago, Cincinnati Chaps vice president

Carl Fox lost his partner of seven years, Greg Landrum, to AIDS. Landrum had quite a sizable collection of teddy bears, and when Fox had to move to an apartment with limited space, he decided to give them away.

"I had heard about this group FACE [For AIDS Children Everywhere]," Fox said, "and I decided to donate the bears to children with AIDS."

The following year, Fox's business partner Bill Bolyard got involved in the project, and stayed involved until his death from AIDS in 1995. This year, the event has grown

JEFF PALMER

to include the Angels Fund of northern Kentucky.

From now until Dec. 10, everyone is encouraged to drop off new stuffed animals and toys at Rosie's Tavern, 7th and Bakewell St. in Covington, Ky., or Shooter's Bar at Court

unchanged since the first edition in 1990: "Focus on a Future Without AIDS." The 11 by 22-inch month-at-a-glance calendar features thirteen black and white images of powerful and beautiful men both alone and together.

The 1998 AIDS Benefit Calendar features 13 images of men and male couples.

and Race Streets in Cincinnati. The Chaps will collect the toys and divide them between the two charities.

"In the six years that we've done this we have collected well over one thousand stuffed animals and toys," Fox said. "The volunteers at FACE have told me they wish everyone could see the look on those children's faces when they receive their toys--the smiles and joy that it brings is immeasurable." To participate or for further information, call Carl Fox at 606-291-9707 or 606-291-7035

Make appointments with flair

If you're like me, having a datebook or calendar that reflects something about your personality makes jotting down those appointments have your teeth cleaned just a little bit easier. I get so many calendars this time of year it's hard to choose a favorite, but I've picked two that I predict will be used by many a gay man or lesbian on the go. They

WE'MOON '98

WISC

also make a wonderful holiday gift ideabuy one for yourself and for that special

someone.

For the women, my pick is the We'Moon '98 Gaia Rhythms for Womyn, a multicultural women's astrological and lunar date book. It includes great art (including the fabulous cover by Carolyn Hillyer), week-at-a-glance format, daily moon phases, and astrological information. The theme of this 17th edition is Wise Womyn Ways, and it is available either bound or unbound. At 5 by 8 inches, it fits nicely into a briefcase or knapsack. We'Moon '98 is available for $17.85 from Mother Tongue Ink, P.O. Box 1395-B, Estacada, Ore., 97023; 503-630-7848, or e-mail wemoon(u,teleport.com

For the guys, my pick is the AIDS Benefit Calendar, created by Jeff Palmer and Joc Pascale. The calendar's theme has remained

Palmer and Pascale said they created the calendar in response to what they viewed as the "sex and intimacy-negative" messages from the "establishment" in the early days of the AIDS pandemic.

"We wanted to combat that [sex-negative] message with beautiful celebratory images of men and male couples," Palmer noted. "One of the things we hope we have given back is a positive image of men and men together."

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar are distributed to agencies across the country that

provide direct services to people living with HIV and AIDS. More than $400,000 has been distributed since the first calendar in 1990.

To order the 1998 AIDS Benefit Calendar, send $13.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling to AIDS Benefit Calendar; Dept. KW, P.O. Box 230034, Encinitas, Calif. 92023-0034. ✓

Lincoln Pettaway contributed to this column.

Center Café Friday, December 12 7-10 p.m.

Wear & Caro, a night of HIV/AIDS “edu-tainment” featuring performance, fashion, and music by Cleveland area artists and activists. The evening kicks off with the performance piece, So What Are You Wearing?, and continues with house music by DJ Rob Sherwood. $4.00 CCCA members, $5.00 non-members. Partial proceeds from this event go to Young Artist-Activists Motivated About AIDS (YAAMAA).

For more information, call The Center at 421-8671.

The Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art is located at 8501 Carnegie Avenue in The Cleveland Play House Complex.

This event is presented by the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art and Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland, and Sponsored by DO Something., Life Beat (The Music Industry Fights AIDS) and OSHAN

Cleveland Center Contemporary