PORTLAND -- About two dozen people gathered at Maine Medical Center this morning to mark the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.

The memorial event included remarks from hospital and state officials and a representative of the Northern New England chapter of the NAMES Project, the AIDS Memorial Quilt organization.

Two 12-by-12-foot sections of the AIDS quilt were on display. The Frannie Peabody Center provided rapid HIV testing as well.

Another World AIDS Day event will be held at noon at Longfellow Square. Participants in the event will be able to write thoughts on red ribbons that will be paced in trees in Longfellow Square.

Free HIV testing will be available to the public until 3 p.m. at the Maine College of Art.

The City Council tonight will honor Dr. Ann Lemire, an HIV specialist who has worked with the city's Public Health Division. Lemire helped start Positive Health Care, the largest primary care practice for persons with HIV and AIDS in the state.

The City Council is also expected to issue a World AIDS Day 2008 proclamation tonight.

City Hall will be lit in red, the color adopted by the Visual AIDS Artists Caucus in 1991.

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