World Aids Day

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1, but this year the HIV Advisory Committee of Laguna Beach will start things off Thursday by placing memorial ribbons mounted on wooden stakes in the sandy area where Broadway meets Coast Highway. At 3 p.m., free HIV testing will be available at the cobblestone area of Main Beach. The Laguna Beach Community Clinic will park its mobile unit in plain sight, and Kim de St. Paer and her volunteers will perform the 20-minute test all afternoon. This "quick" test is provided using funds donated by the city as well as Abbott Laboratories, represented by Rose-Marie Ilano.

Suzie Harrison Laguna Beach High School students and the Laguna Beach HIV advisory committee came together with locals to remember loved ones and spread awareness for World AIDS Day on Monday. HIV Advisory Committee chairperson Kim de St. Paer contacted Laguna Beach High School teacher Kerry Pellow to see if her desktop publishing and digital media classes would like to participate. "Kim called and said we know you've done the World AIDS Day posters in the past -- we would love if you could do them again," Pellow said.

A few weeks ago, Kim de St. Paer, who runs the HIV testing and counseling program at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, treated an older gentleman who complained of weakness in his arms, only after it began to hinder his greatest passion — painting. A heterosexual man who had practiced celibacy for a number of years, he didn’t think HIV was something he had to worry about, so he told St. Paer that he’d never bothered to be tested. “It wasn’t a serious issue in my time,” she recalls the man saying.

In the 1980s, a then-mysterious virus began taking a toll on Laguna Beach. On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the community will remember its losses, cherish the strides made in the testing and treatment of the disease, and promote awareness of the danger of complacency. Black ribbons will drape 15 prominent pieces of Laguna's public art in remembrance of the Laguna residents who have died from AIDS. The city's HIV Advisory Committee will host a health and awareness exposition at 3 p.m. at Main Beach, followed by a candlelight vigil.

The following is from the Nov. 27 meeting of the Laguna Beach Arts Commission.   WORLD AIDS DAY In commemoration of World AIDS Day on Friday, the arts commissioners will adorn several sculptures throughout town with black and red ribbons, it was announced. TEMPORARY SCULPTURE AT HEISLER PARK The commission discussed the timing for the installation and dedication of Gerard Basil Stripling's sculpture, "Toward the Within" for temporary exhibition at a site in Heisler Park.

Free quick tests for HIV will be available and vigil will be held.The City of Laguna Beach advisory board is gearing up for World AIDS Day, Thursday, Dec. 1. Free anonymous HIV testing will be available at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic's mobile unit, which will be located at Main Beach. Results will be available in 20 minutes. The testing will run from 3 to 6 p.m. A candlelight vigil will also be held at 6 p.m. at Main Beach. For further information, please contact Mike Sellers, chief of police and city liaison to the HIV advisory committee, at (949)

HAPPENINGS In the field Reporter gets a feel for the perils of police work. B1 ALSO: Susan Mas has left her seat on the school board after 17 years of service. A4 Children share what they have to be thankful for. A10 Life members named to Festival and Pageant. B3 Check out holiday tips available at the library. B4 Kirk Preble gives his time to Laguna Shanti. B6 Dennis McTighe gives weather tidbits. B6 CITYSCAPE Remembering Laguna celebrates World AIDS Day with posters and a Sunday ceremony.

To mark World AIDS Day, Laguna Beach High students create posters that are displayed around town; the city will also hang ribbons -- red, not black -- on public art and host a vigil for those killed by the disease or still living with it.Laguna Beach has the highest incident of AIDS and HIV in the country, according to Dr. Korey Jorgensen of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic. In recognition of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, various community groups will come together to promote awareness and mourn those lost to the disease.

Mary A. Castillo Although they knew very little of the reality of HIV, nearly 60 Laguna Beach High School students participated in a design competition sponsored by the HIV Advisory Committee. Out of 20 entries, three AIDS awareness posters were chosen to be displayed throughout the city in commemoration of World AIDS Day on Sunday. Two of the selected artists were Brooke Sirianni and Kelly Nicholas, both 17. This is the second year the HIV Advisory Committee tapped the talents of local youth enrolled in Kerry Pellow's desktop publishing and computer graphics class.

In the 1980s, a then-mysterious virus began taking a toll on Laguna Beach. On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the community will remember its losses, cherish the strides made in the testing and treatment of the disease, and promote awareness of the danger of complacency. Black ribbons will drape 15 prominent pieces of Laguna's public art in remembrance of the Laguna residents who have died from AIDS. The city's HIV Advisory Committee will host a health and awareness exposition at 3 p.m. at Main Beach, followed by a candlelight vigil.

The Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee will mark World AIDS Day on Wednesday with free HIV testing, an AIDS quilt memorial, other medical services, and a candlelight vigil at Laguna's Main Beach for those who have lost their lives to the disease. Rapid testing for HIV, administered by Laguna Beach Community Clinic, plus free flu vaccines from Laguna Drug, an HIV Resource Fair, healing touch ministers, and display of the AIDS memorial quilt will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. on the Cobblestones at Main Beach.

The good news locally about AIDS is that Laguna Beach is no longer the U.S. ?capital? of the AIDS-afflicted ? that dubious honor now goes to Washington, D.C. But the disease is more widespread than it is believed to be, now counting a far larger number of heterosexuals as victims, we learn from local AIDS activists, who say that 91% of new cases are being found in the straight population and one-third are women who contracted it from men. ...

A few weeks ago, Kim de St. Paer, who runs the HIV testing and counseling program at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, treated an older gentleman who complained of weakness in his arms, only after it began to hinder his greatest passion — painting. A heterosexual man who had practiced celibacy for a number of years, he didn’t think HIV was something he had to worry about, so he told St. Paer that he’d never bothered to be tested. “It wasn’t a serious issue in my time,” she recalls the man saying.

World AIDS Day testing, beach vigil planned The Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee will commemorate World AIDS Day on Monday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Main Beach Cobblestone area. HIV testing will be available at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic?s mobile unit, with results in 20 minutes. The mobile unit will be parked on the cobblestone area of Main Beach. Free testing will run from 3 to 5 p.m. Ribbons in memory of those in our community who have died of AIDS will be placed on trees throughout the city.

Artman opens Laguna location Laguna Beach-based JoAnne Artman of SpaceOnSpurgeon in Santa Ana is opening a new gallery at 326 N. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach. Artman brings a ?Santa Ana attitude? to her opening show featuring the works of Patrick Maisano, Louis Longi, Laura Ross-Paul, David Limrite, Bill Agee, James Strombotne, Patti Didiomete, Pat Sparkuhl, Gregg Stone, Daggi Wallace and Bardene Allen. The exhibit features photographs, pastels, watercolors, acrylics and sculpture.

Candle shop hosts holiday fun for kids Pure Light, a new nature-inspired candle and gathering studio at 821 Laguna Canyon Road, will host its first annual holiday kids event. The program, ?Kids? Gifts from the Heart,? is for children of all ages and will be feature 13 days of special activities focused on creativity, kindness and wellness. Kids? candle making kicks off the creative gift-making series. ?Kids love the sensory experience of making their very own candles,?

The following is from the Oct. 8 meeting of the Laguna Beach Arts Commission. The commission selected the winners of this year?s Palette Competition. The winners ? Suzette Rosenthal, Deborah Ginder, Suzanne Redfearn and Eunice Choi ? will create works of art on oversized palettes that will hang in Laguna Beach during the holiday season. The commission received 147 entries to the first annual Juried Fine Art Exhibition. Adjudicator and gallery owner Peter Blake chose 33 pieces from 33 artists for exhibit at City Hall; the winners will be named at a reception at 5 p.m. Nov. 1 before Art Walk.