Bay Windows - June 9, 2005
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com.

To honor the 20th anniversary, AAC brought back the official theme from the first walk, "From All Walks of Life." Mayor Thomas Menino referenced the theme in his kick-off address to the walkers at the Hatch Shell, explaining that the AIDS epidemic affects all communities.

"I thank [AAC founding director] Larry Kessler for starting this 20 years ago," said Menino. "The theme this year, 'From All Walks of Life,' that's so true. It doesn't discriminate against you because you're rich, black, white, yellow, or pink."

The mayor asked attendees to hold lawmakers accountable for confronting the epidemic, urging them to "make sure our elected officials, when they show up [to AIDS charity events], they commit to voting for funding to AIDS Action programs. It's not about talking, it's about supporting, getting out there to do their job."

Kessler also addressed the crowd, urging them to continue the fight against AIDS. While medical advances have allowed people with HIV to live longer healthier lives, he said, the epidemic is far from over.

"We never thought it would take 20 years [when we founded the AIDS Walk], and hopefully it won't take another 20. So that's why today I think we need to recommit ourselves to prevention, to compassion, to leadership, to support," said Kessler.

For walkers who return yearly to raise money in memory of loved ones lost to AIDS, that commitment remains solid. Melvin and Marsha Locke, a Randolph couple whose son Barry passed away 11 years ago, carried a banner adorned with their son's photo as they walked with Team Locke, which they founded to take part in the AIDS Walk 13 years ago.

For the Lockes, their commitment to AIDS activism began the moment they discovered that their son was living with AIDS.

"He came home from working in San Francisco to tell us that he was sick and told us that he had AIDS," recounts Melvin. "So he fought it for a couple years while he was here back in Boston, and he walked by himself 13 years ago with my wife and his family and friends, and after that period of time we became one of the top family teams in the past 10 or 11 years."

At its peak Team Locke brought 150 walkers to the event, but as walkers have passed or drifted away the team has shrunk down to immediate family. Yet the Lockes say they have no plans to retire Team Locke.

"We wish we had more people walking with us like we did in the past, but we'll be walking until the last diagnosis of AIDS," said Marsha, who wore her son's red ribbon pin on her Team Locke T-shirt.

Linda Rolon, an HIV-positive woman from Randolph, founded Melvin's Team in honor of her husband, who passed away in 1999. She said when she first started the team, she used it as a way to channel her anger and grief over the loss of her husband into something positive, but over the years she has found that the walk has actually given her hope.

"Sometimes you go along day to day and people just really don't get it, they don't get the quiet times when you're alone and by yourself and the stuff you think about and the fears," said Rolon. "I come here and I know I'm not alone, I just know I'm not alone. And these people come out, my team members, not only for Melvin but for myself also, and it just means a lot, the support."

After the walk and 5K run, participants gathered at the Esplanade for the AIDS Walk's first-annual health fair, where AIDS service organizations, acupuncture clinics, yoga studios and other healthcare providers reached out to participants. Walkers replenished their fluids at the Whole Foods Market tent, where people swarmed around the free lemonade and smoothies. (The less health-conscious walkers and runners queued up for the Ben and Jerry's truck at the edge of the fair.)

AAC closed out the afternoon with a concert on the Hatch Shell, featuring performances from the dance troupe Rainbow Tribe and the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, among other acts. The festivities closed with the revival of a tradition from AIDS Walks past, the group sing-along of the AIDS tribute song "That's What Friends Are For." AAC Executive Director Rebecca Haag, along with members of the AAC board and the organizers of the AIDS Walk, took to the stage and sang along with the original recording, performing an impromptu kick line.

For some walkers this year's walk was their first. Jesse Fecker, a Somerville resident, and Cori Dibiase, a former Bostonian who moved mid-state, were encouraged to participate this year by a friend.

"A friend of mine said I needed to do it, and I'd wanted to do it for a couple of years now and the timing didn't work out, so this is finally the first time. It's great," said Fecker.

Dibiase was inspired to walk as a reaction to the increasing apathy about the AIDS epidemic that has grown since the advent of drug combination therapies in the late '90s. He was motivated by "the fact that so many people ask that question seriously, 'What's the problem? It's almost finished, we've got the medication.' There's so little knowledge that now people assume that it solved the problem or that it will within a generation."

For Tim Feeley, a Taunton resident, this year marked the first time in five years that he participated in the walk. He came back with a vengeance, raising $1600 and earning him a spot in the AIDS Walk's Extra Mile Club (members must raise at least $1000 to be recognized as part of the club).

"I really decided to do this about a month ago. I sent e-mails to my coworkers at work, my family and friends, and they all kind of jumped on board and gave us donations. They thought it was a worthy cause as well," said Feeley.

He said he was inspired to get involved again to mark the 20th anniversary, and he plans to come back next year.

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