AIDS Walk

We had a great time for a great cause on Saturday at the AIDS Walk. Thom and I got up early and met up with some of our other AGLA (Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance) teammates at the Clarendon Metro station, and made our way to Freedom Plaza (Pennsylvania Ave. NW between 13th and 14th Streets), where the Walk was to begin. After a few speeches by the organizers, we were a bit restless and ready to start walking! At around 11 a.m., the Walk was underway. The route led towards the Capitol and through the National Mall, so with the pleasant weather, it was a perfect scenic walk. There were lots of people (a few thousand), made up of many groups; it was interesting to see the different signs that people had. Our relatively small team had two AGLA banners and one official placard, so over the course of the event it seemed each of us had a turn at holding one of them. The Walk was made especially lively by the Dunbar Senior High School marching band, which marched alongside us for most of the route. Too bad I don’t have a photo of Thom copying the smooth moves of the drum majors and dance team. There were volunteers along the way, cheering everyone on. (As we passed the Newseum construction site, even the crane operator way above us chimed in by blowing the horn for us.)

Thanks so much to those of you who donated to help the Whitman-Walker Clinic. It is greatly appreciated. I raised $535, which far exceeded my expectations. The Walk brought in a total of more than $400,000, according to the organizers. (A sobering bit of news, though, is that the clinic’s Maryland branch closed down just this past Friday.)

My photos from the event are online. I’ve been searching Flickr for other photos; check out Bozoette‘s set, for example. (Nice to see we were watching some of the same sights.)