NORTHRIDGE : AIDS Quilt Makes 3-Day Stop at CSUN

The colorful panels stretched out across the floor, each a deeply personal tribute to a life ended prematurely.

Some showed symbols of hope--a sun, a heart, a peace sign. Others displayed photographs and handwritten messages. All had names.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt came back to Cal State Northridge on Thursday.

“It’s breathtaking,” said Pat Gould, whose nephew, Larry DeGrange, died of AIDS in 1992.

In all, about 300 panels representing Southern California victims were brought to campus, courtesy of the NAMES Project in San Francisco, which started the quilt in 1987. They will be on display through Saturday evening.

The quilt, which goes on tour throughout the country, was last brought to CSUN in 1992, and had been scheduled to come back last spring until the earthquake changed things.

For Thursday’s opening ceremony, students from Cantara Street Elementary School in Reseda helped spread the panels on the floor. Pat Bilovsky, a teacher at Cantara, said students may not understand a lot about AIDS, but do recognize that it’s a killer.

Joe Delorenzo recognizes that as well. It took away a good friend, Jimmy Betts, in 1986. Delorenzo, however, suffered a heart attack two weeks before Betts died and didn’t get a chance for one last visit.

“I never got to say goodby to him,” said Delorenzo of Hollywood. “That’s why I made it (a quilt panel).”

Gould will get her chance for closure Saturday evening. That’s when her panel, along with a few others, will be unveiled for the first time.

Whenever she heard about the quilt, Gould thought about making a contribution, but didn’t think she’d ever have the opportunity. When she found out a few weeks ago that it was coming to CSUN, it was time.

“He was my sister’s son,” said Gould of Northridge. “But I always considered him mine. Maybe this will help end the pain.”

The quilt is composed of more than 28,000 individual panels, each measuring 3 by 6 feet. Plans are under way to display the entire quilt in Washington in late 1996.