By Susan Shinn Turner

For the Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — Bob Lambrecht and Jon Planovsky met in 1983 in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Southern California, the two found each other at a time when they were losing friends to an unknown disease.

“We were taking care of friends who were wasting away,” Planovsky says. “We lost many, many friends. No one knew what it was.”

Eventually, the disease got a name: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome — or AIDS.

When Planovsky recently read the script for “Mothers and Sons,” a play opening at Lee Street Theatre this weekend, he found a reference to the AIDS Quilt. Planovsky and Lambrecht decided to bring panels of the Quilt to display at Lee Street during the show’s run.

“We have participated in making several panels,” Planovsky says. “We know far too many names on that quilt.”

Even though they know many of the 97,000 names on 52,000 panels of the Quilt, Planovsky and Lambrecht didn’t request any particular panels.

“Every single name on there is a human life that has been taken away, and they all deserve respect,” Planovsky says.

“Mothers and Sons” is a story of love and redemption after a mother loses her child to AIDS years before. The play opens Thursday at Lee Street Theatre and will run at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Oct. 5-7.

The AIDS Quilt panels will be on display throughout the run of the show. They will also be on display to the public, free of charge, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 7 and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 8.

Although Lambrecht and Planovsky moved to Salisbury 10 years ago — they are owners of Critters gift shop, 125 S. Main St. — their home state continues to hold a special place in their hearts. They were married there in September 2008, and they continue to be vocal advocates for same-sex rights.

The AIDS Quilt had its beginnings in 1985 when a group of friends got together to make sure their loved ones who had died of AIDS would be remembered. People continue to make 3-by 6-foot blocks — the size of a grave — that are then sewn into 12-by-12-foot panels.

Parts of the Quilt are shown all over the country. It was last displayed in its entirety on the National Mall in Washington in 1996.

Lee Street will display four of the 12-by-12-foot panels.

Specific names on the Quilt can be found at aidsquilt.org.

Planovsky says he’s honored the AIDS Quilt will be here.

“It’s going to be a truly powerful event,” he says.

Craig Kolkebeck, Lee Street’s artistic director, agrees.

“The Quilt serves as an important memorial to those who died of a horrible pandemic,” Kolkebeck says. “What was left in the wake of the pandemic were grieving mothers and fathers whose children were taken from them by a disease that seemed to spread faster than medicine could get a grip on. The Quilt reminds us that we cannot forget.”

For more information about “Mothers and Sons,” visit www.leestreet.org.