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Four-year-old Forest Rowley and his mother, Dawn, sat at a table
in the Living AIDS Memorial Garden one afternoon last week.
While the East End residents savored their lunch of fast food
from nearby restaurants, a man napped nearby on the lush grass.
“We come here and eat sometimes,” Dawn Rowley said. “We love the
flowers. We try to feed the birds.”
The small plot at the corner of Washington Street East and Sidney
Avenue has become a haven of beauty and tranquility in an area that
teems with activity from the nearby Capitol Complex.
Members of the nonprofit Living AIDS Memorial Garden Inc. have
worked since 1998 to turn the site into a place to honor the
memories of those who have lost their lives to the disease, and to
provide a place of reflection for survivors and people living with
the illness.
A funding mix of private donations, corporate contributions,
government grants and an annual benefit, the Dance for Those Who Can’t, has allowed garden organizers to
create a blooming expanse that includes wildflowers, trees and
roses.
“We try to have a progression that goes from daffodils and tulips
in the spring to iris and allium to daylilies, followed by the
black-eyed Susans and then the mums in the fall,” said Bruce
Severino, who co-founded the group along with Carl Maxwell and the
late Jeffrey Huff.
Wrought-iron fencing frames the garden on two sides, while a
brick walkway meanders from front to back. Visitors can use the
walkway to gain access to the concrete benches and tables scattered
throughout the plot. Some bricks are imprinted with names of donors
or people who have died of AIDS, as well as with inspirational
messages such as “To Live in Hearts We Leave Behind Is Not to
Die.”
People, Places and Plants, a magazine distributed throughout the
mid-Atlantic region, salutes the efforts of these garden volunteers
with a colorful two-page spread in its summer 2003 issue. “It’s the
concept,” Severino said of the magazine staff’s decision to include
the East End plot in the “Public Gardens 2003” feature. Copies of
the magazine are available at Taylor Books in downtown
Charleston.
By the time an irrigation system is installed later this year,
garden volunteers will have raised more than $45,000 to fund the
project. They hope to come up with another $70,000 for an endowment
that will pay for permanent maintenance.
“I’ve been really pleased with the response,” Severino said. “The
city helps, the state helps, the community helps. It’s something
that moves across all races. We have members from as far away as
California.”
He noted that the garden’s supporters are not limited just to
those touched by AIDS. “People have sent in [memorial contributions]
for their grandmothers and mothers. We decided we’re not going to
turn anyone down.
“People really seem to enjoy what we’ve done there,” he added.
“We’ll be working in there and people will stop by and tell us how
nice it is. I think these days, AIDS is not a word you can’t
pronounce anymore.”
To contact staff writer Marina Hendricks, use e-mail or call
348-4881.
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