8 GAY PEOPLE'S Chronicle SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Get out the comfortable shoes, it's AIDS Walk time
Cleveland-It's that time of year again
to get out your walking shoes and begin collecting pledges for the annual AIDS Walk Cleveland. The 1998 Dr. John T. Carey Memorial AIDS Walk will take place on Sunday, September 20 at Edgewater Park. A pre-event ceremony will take place at 12 noon. The walk officially steps off at 1 pm. The 10-kilometer (6.2) mile pledge walk "Those who knew John will once again remember his contributions and all that he accomplished."
was named to honor nationally known AIDS researcher and former medical director of the special immunology unit at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Dr. John T. Carey, who died in a tragic accident in 1995.
"Those who knew John will once again remember his contributions and all that he accomplished, and will pay tribute to a man whose life, like so many that he cared for, ended all too suddenly," an AIDS Walk organizer said."
The AIDS Walk is an opportunity for thousands of people to walk in memory of loved ones they have lost to AIDS. Because of generous financial support from the daily Plain Dealer, the city of Cleveland and corporate sponsors such as Glaxo Wellcome, Ohio Savings Bank, Agouron Pharmaceuticals and many others, a full 100% of the money raised by walkers goes directly to support the HIV and AIDS programs and services of the ten agencies who coordinate and receive funding from the walk. The AIDS Walk is Cleveland's largest annual fundraising event for HIV and AIDS. Last year, more than 3,000 people participated in the event and raised more than $250,000.
Going from booze to triathlons
Leading the walk this year will be HIVpositive triathlete Jim Howley, who will share his inspirational story at the pre-walk event at noon. After testing positive for HIV in the early '80s and having been given 18 months to live, Howley gave up his destructive lifestyle of cigarettes, drugs and alcohol and began to train.
Today, nine years later, he has competed in more than 40 triathlons and marathons, including the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, and the New York City Marathon. In 1997, he founded and completed the "Transcontinental Triathlon for Life," an event that had him run, bike and swim 3,375 miles from Los Angeles to New York City in 52 days, an unprecedented feat of endurance.
Howley, who has seen his T-cell count drop as low as two and then rise again to a level of 350, and who has also battled cancer, credits exercise and healthy living with his current quality of life.
"Without the fitness regime I would not have survived long enough to benefit from the latest advances in treatment," he said, "Exercise is indeed a powerful medicine.”
Howley's non-profit foundation, Athletics Instead of Depression and Sickness (AIDS), provides scholarships to young athletes and, for the past two years, has organized the "Transcontinental Triathlon for Life."
"The mission of the group has always been about empowerment," Howley said. "Empowerment to face a challenge ahead, to fight back in the face of adversity, and to
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HIV positive triathlete Jim Howley will share his story of triumph in the face of adversity when he comes to Cleveland to lead walkers in the 1998 Dr. John Carey Memorial AIDS Walk Sept. 20.
satisfy an overwhelming desire to live life to its fullest."
Joining Howley at the walk's pre-event noon ceremony will be native Clevelander Patricia Heaton, co-star of the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which begins its third season this fall. Heaton will serve as the celebrity chair for the AIDS Walk and will have the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially kick off the walk.
Cleveland residents and tireless AIDS activists Vic and Joan Gelb will again serve as honorary chairs of the AIDS Walk this year.
Step into these shoes
Some famous walking shoes will be auctioned off to raise additional funds for the AIDS Walk, including a pair of size 22 Reeboks, worn and autographed by Los Angeles Lakers all-star center Shaquille O'Neal.
In addition to Shaq's size 22s, the first annual These Shoes Were Made for Walkin' silent auction will feature autographed celebrity walking shoes and other mementos from Michael Feinstein, Martina Navratilova, Whoopi Goldberg, k.d. lang, the Indigo Girls, Paul Newman, Sharon Stone, Bill Cosby, and many oth-
ers.
Several of the almost 50 celebrity auction items will be on display at Beachwood Place mall, at Cedar and Rchmond Rds., through September 18. A complete list of silent auction items can be seen on the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland's web site at www.en.com/users/freclin.
Online bids will be accepted beginning Monday, September 7 by e-mail to freclin@en.com. Bids must be in $10 increments and will be accepted online through 6 pm on Friday, September 18. Final bidding on the items, which will be
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Items in the silent auction include Shaquille O'Neal's signed size-22 Reeboks, top, an autographed Charles Nagy baseball, and shoes signed by Michael Feinstein and Sharon Stone, lower left and right.
moved from Beachwood Place to Edgewater Park in time for the walk, will take place the same day as the AIDS Walk, with bids accepted until 1 pm.
For those participants wishing to avoid the hassles of waiting in line on September 20, preregistration will be offered at seven locations throughout the city from September 14 – 18. They are:
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The AIDS Taskforce, 2728 Euclid Ave.,
4th
216-
Floor, 621-0766; the Open House, 2460 Fairmount Blvd., 216-229-6722; the Free Clinic, 12201 Euclid Ave., 216721-4010; the Cleveland Lesbian and Gay Center, 1418 W. 29th
St., 216-522-1999; Hispanic UMADAOP, 3305 West 25th St., 216459-1222; Hemophilia Foundation, 5755 Granger Rd., #790, 216739-1755; and Planned Parenthood, 19550 Rockside Rd., 440232-8381.
Participants should call ahead for preregistration hours. Registration will take place on the day of the walk between 10 am and 2 pm at Edgewater Park.
For more information about the AIDS Walk, or to receive a pledge form, call the AIDS Walk hotline at 440-735-9255 (WALK).
Compiled by Doreen Cudnik from AIDS Walk press materials.
In two weeks, Kings Island will be a GLBT park
by Dave Hughes
Cincinnati On Friday, September 25 the gates at Paramount's Kings Island will swing open for Pride Night '98. The park, just north of Cincinnati on I-71, is ours again!
This is the second annual GLBT private party event organized by and benefiting the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Greater Cincinnati. We are hoping to attract 5,000 or more people this year, which would more than double our turnout of 2,400 last year. The parking lot will open at 4 for pm those arriving early, with the gates scheduled to open at 5 pm. You will be able to enjoy rides, entertainment, food and fun until the park closes with the climactic fireworks finale at 11 pm.
We are currently in the process of finalizing the plans for the Pride Night '98 edition of "Center Stage." This is our opportunity to showcase talent from our community on the two stages at FestHaus, the park's German-style beer hall which holds over 1,000 people.
Last year we featured several bands, female impersonators, and speakers from local and regional GLBT organizations. Expect more of the same this year. We hope to have the full line-up announced on our web site, www.GayCincinnati.com, as we get closer to the event. Plan on stopping by the FestHaus for a beer or soft drink and a bite to eat while enjoying a variety of forms of entertainment.
Based on the phone calls and e-mails we have been receiving, we know that we will once again be seeing friends from throughout the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tri-state area, as well as Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, and Illinois.
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To better serve our friends from out-oftown this year, we have made arrangements for reduced room rates at several hotels on the Northern Kentucky riverfront. If you or your friends are planning on taking advantage of these rates, you should try to make your reservations as early as possible in September in order to be assured of receiving the Pride Night '98 special rate. We are grateful to the following hotels for their assistance and cooperation in making these rooms available:
Comfort Suites, Newport, Ky., 606291-6700.
Holiday Inn, Covington, Ky., 606291-4300.
Hampton Inn, Covington, Ky. 606581-7800.
Quality Hotel, Riverview, Ky. 606491-1200.
Tickets for Pride Night '98 are available in advance for $25 each. Tickets are available in Cincinnati at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Crazy Ladies Bookstore, Pink Pyramid, and the New Pipeline with additional outlets being added weekly.
Outside of Cincinnati, we have made tickets available through Arms of Love in the Springfield, Ohio area.
In Columbus, Dayton, and Cleveland, tickets are available through the gay and lesbian community centers: Dayton, 937274-1776 or 937-274-4297; Columbus, 614-299-7764; and Cleveland, 216522-1999.
We have also chosen a new toll-free telephone provider for our tickets this year. Box Office Tickets is a gay-owned national ticketing service that lists the Human Rights Campaign's national dinner among other impressive credits. Tickets by phone are $28.50 each at 800-494-8497. Box Office Tickets accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Tickets will also be available at the gate for $30 each. (Cash or most major credit cards-no checks will be accepted at the gate.) Kings Island season passes are not valid for Pride Night '98. We'll be updating the Kings Island-Pride Night '98 page the www.GayCincinnati.com website throughout the month of September, including traffic and construction updates for those arriving from the south hoping to avoid road work delays on Fort Washington Way.
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Call your friends, use chat rooms, and any other means you can think of to help us make this event a success again this year. If this event continues to grow over the next several years, we may eventually move to a full day of fun on a Saturday. If you don't have access to the Internet, give us a call weekday evenings at 513-651-0040 if you need more information.
Finally, don't forget to support the Greater Cincinnati AIDS Walk on Saturday morning, September 26. Between our event and the AIDS Walk, the last weekend of September promises to be a fun one benefiting two very worthwhile causes. Hope to see thousands of you at both events! ♡
Dave Hughes is co-chair of Pride Night '98 at Kings Island.