fund-raising project for 1993, there was perhaps a feeling it was a case of stepping in where angels had previously feared to tread.

Well aware the stigma against the disease still existed in Bermudian society, Sandys Rotary was determined to show by example, that much could and would be done to counter the ignorance that still surrounds this disease and to alleviate the suffering of those persons with AIDS, their families and loved ones.

Its resounding success so far has already brought the Club the District Governor's Citation ("For Dedicated Service to the AIDS Programme'') and a letter of thanks from Opera America, in recognition of the club's World AIDS Day concert, A Classical Response to AIDS, which raised $16,000 for its Education Fund last December.

Now, Sandys Rotary is staging another special concert.

American soprano, Gwendolyn Lytle, who thrilled audiences in that December appearance, is returning with her accompanist brother, Cecil Lytle, to give a recital at Wesley Methodist Church in Hamilton on Saturday, June 5.

Since Sandys Rotary took up the AIDS cause last November, it has already given much-needed funds to assist those care-givers and other professionals who are involved in improving the quality of information about the disease.

It has provided funds to assist with the visit of two professional hospital AIDS chaplains from Montreal to conduct a seminar on Living With AIDS, and $1,000 was donated to two school counsellors from the Department of Education to attend a workshop in California, on AIDS, Children and Grief.

In conjunction with Elbow Beach Hotel the Sandys Rotary Education Fund sponsored a seminar for the School Counsellors Group on assisting children cope with death and grief issues.

The Fund also co-operated with the Hospice Trust and was able to send one of their nurses to London for a seminar on palliative care issues and it has also assisted a nurse specialising in infectious diseases education at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, to attend an AIDS education programme in Florida.

The largest single amount so far, however, has been to The Allen Vincent Smith Aids Foundation, with $3,500 being donated to establish an AIDS phone line for Bermuda, to train the volunteers who will serve it and to advertise the line in Bermuda.

The Lytles, who are both donating their services, recently collaborated on a series of concerts devoted to the music of George Gershwin, which culminated in a special performance broadcast on public television across the US.

For this concert, the talented duo will concentrate on American composers and traditional spirituals.

New Yorker Gwendolyn Lytle who is currently Resident Artist and Assistant Professor of Music at Pomona College, California, will sing music from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington.

Her brother, Cecil Lytle, who was winner of the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition and has gone on to a busy career as a recording artist, will also play three Gershwin preludes, and some popular jazz.

The concert takes place at the Wesley Methodist Church, Hamilton, on Saturday, June 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets at $25 are available from Opus 1, Reid Street, Hamilton.

SANDYS ROTARY CONCERT -- From left, committee members the Rev. David Chisling, Mr. John Sample, Mr. Steve Lake and new president-elect, Mr. Reginald Minors.