PLACENTIA : Proclaiming Compassion About AIDS

It was John O. Tynes, the mayor, who presented a proclamation designating Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day in the city.

But it was Tynes, the father, who has lost a son to the disease, who said he would spend the rest of his life comforting people with AIDS.

Both roles came together for Tynes at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. With a section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt hanging behind council members, the mayor issued the proclamation to representatives of the Orange County HIV Planning Advisory Council. Each of the representatives spoke about their experiences with AIDS. Included in the group was Clairee Tynes, wife of the mayor.

“Our son, Bill, died of AIDS on Jan. 9, 1987. We miss him very much,” Clairee Tynes told the audience. “Bill was gay. . . . I pray that we will learn somehow to condemn the disease and not the person.”

Also speaking at the meeting was Joseph Orellano, who said he has tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes the incurable disease.

“I don’t belong to the two (high-risk) categories for AIDS,” Orellano said. “This disease does affect everyone. People need to be educated about the disease.”

According to John Tynes, the number of AIDS cases reported in the city is 19, 13 of which have resulted in death.

“As far as my wife and I are concerned, the rest of the time we have on Earth will be spent educating (about AIDS) and comforting people who have contracted the disease,” Tynes said.

The panels displayed at City Hall are part of the 21,000-panel quilt project, started in 1987 as an effort to focus attention on the victims of AIDS. The Placentia display was planned as a promotion of an exhibit Nov. 29 at Cal State Fullerton.

According to Ed Miller, logistics coordinator for the Orange County Names Project, Placentia is the first city in the county to display the quilt in City Hall. The group is a chapter of the Names Project Foundation, which organizes quilt displays.

The four 12-by-12-foot quilt squares controlled by the Orange County chapter are displayed about 12 times a year. Recently, more schools and churches have requested a display.

“There is more awareness going on about AIDS,” he said. “Schools aren’t so afraid to talk about it.

While the panel containing Bill Tynes’ square was not included in the Placentia display, the Tyneses said they were moved by the presence of the quilt.

“It’s touching to see the care people put into these squares,” Clairee Tynes said.

When she designed her son’s square, Clairee Tynes kept in mind his love of fine things and good taste. The 3-by-6-foot quilt piece has a light blue satin background with his signature, which was copied from a letter, stitched in navy blue.

Also on the quilt piece, which was made by local flag makers Ruth and Max Ellis, are the years of Bill’s birth, 1956, and death, 1987, the outline of a violin, which he played for 18 years, and the names of the two states he lived in, California and New York.

The quilt panels will be displayed until Friday in City Hall.