Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Many Turn Out to View AIDS Quilt : Exhibit: More than 1,500 people visit memorial. It was the first time that tribute to victims has been displayed in the Antelope Valley.

Some wore cowboy hats and jeans, others sweat pants. Some came in wheelchairs, others in strollers. All were there to see the tributes paid on cloth to the lives lost to AIDS.

For the first time, a portion of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was on display in the Antelope Valley. More than 1,500 people visited the quilt during its three-day visit here, which ended Tuesday night.

“The education’s been priceless, it’s just been priceless,” said Brian Maxey, a member of the Antelope Valley Faces Up to AIDS committee, the group that brought the quilt to the Palmdale Cultural Center. “It’s been a remarkable experience.”

Visitors to the quilt Tuesday afternoon wandered solemnly, many with tears in their eyes, as they viewed the hundreds of panels with their messages of hope, love and despair.

Lancaster residents Ralph and Elizabeth Thierry visited the quilt just a week after a trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. The retired couple felt both tributes were equally impressive.

“It’s such a waste,” said Elizabeth Thierry, as tears welled in her eyes.

While 11-year-old Candice Murphy stood among the quilt panels and said, “I think it looks real cool,” she also knew that there was more to it.

“It’s sad,” said Candice, a Quartz Hill resident who was brought to the display by her mother. “It’s really easy to get AIDS.”

For many of the visitors, Maxey said, visiting the quilt has provided an opportunity to express emotions, particularly grief, about losing someone to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

All the visitors were invited to write their thoughts on a signature panel, which will be sent to the NAMES Project headquarters in San Francisco with the pieces of the quilt that were displayed.

One man wrote, “Well Wade, we’ve lost John and Bill, Lee Allen and so many more. Charlie, Michael and Chris are not far behind . . . Where will it end? When will the world be ready to face up to this pandemic? How many more panels will we have to make and display? For all who may read this: Help end the madness!!! Give your time. Give your money. Don’t spectate--participate.”