WEST MILFORD There is a scene during the second act in The Laramie Project when police officer Reggie Fluty recounts her experience of being the first officer on the scene where Matthew Shepard had been left beaten and tied to a fence. She talks of the severity of his wounds and mentions that she had to apply pressure immediately to the wounds that were bleeding profusely. She tries to put on latex glove after latex glove, but, due to a tight budget, the cheap gloves ordered by the police chief keep getting holes in them. Frustrated with the gloves and extremely concerned about losing Matthew Shepard right there, Officer Fluty reacts by putting her bare hand over the bleeding wound. Officer Fluty has just contracted HIV. This is not some educational story put together to demonstrate the importance of latex gloves in the emergency response field. This is the actual story as conveyed by Officer Fluty when she was interviewed for The Laramie Project. These are the life and death decisions EMT’s must make everyday, and it was this moving passage which convinced the West Milford Players to use The Laramie Project as a fund raiser for The West Milford First Aid Squad. All money raised through program advertisements will be donated directly to the First Aid Squad. In addition the Players and the First Aid Squad will hold fund raising events during intermission of each show to help the squad. The West Milford Players have also assembled a small presentation to help the squad with the difficult task of recruiting new members. The Laramie Project will open on Friday, May 12 and will run through that weekend and the following weekend, May19. All performances will be at the Hillcrest Community Center. Friday and Saturday performances will be at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees are scheduled for 2. Ticket prices are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Due to the mature themes of The Laramie Project, parental discretion is advised. To reserve tickets call the West Milford Players hotline at 973-697-4400. In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. The incident was labeled a hate crime. Mathew Shepard was gay. Press corps from all over the world descended on Laramie and the citizens of Laramie were left grappling with the fact their town had become defined by a horrible incident. The Laramie Project is not so much the story of Mathew Shepard, as the story of the people of Laramie, told in their own words. It is the story of a community pulling together to prove to the world that “hate is not a Laramie Value” The play is edited from over two hundred interviews conducted by the Tectonic Theater Project over the course of year. Later made into an HBO movie, the West Milford Players production is being staged by veteran director Gene Simakowicz. The cast of 13 bring 67 different characters to life on stage.