Candles of care

Stoneville residents joined the family of Dallas “Red” Dunlap and area emergency service providers at Friendship Park on Sunday afternoon for a candle lighting ceremony.

Dunlap, a 76-year-old Stoneville man suffering from Alzheimer’s, wandered away from his home Oct. 18, 2008. Emergency workers and volunteers combed more than 11 square miles of the surrounding area before the search came to a tragic end with the discovery of Dunlap’s body near the U.S. 220 and N.C. 770 intersection.

Many of the more than 50 people gathered at Friendship Park took part in last year’s week-long search. They came out Sunday to honor Dunlap and support his family’s attempt to bring more attention to the plight of families affected by Alzheimer’s.

“The last thing I want is for the story to end with this tragedy,” said Peggy Manuel, Dunlap’s daughter. “You hear more every day about how many people suffer from this disease, and about 60 percent of them are prone to wander.”

Manuel organized Sunday’s gathering after hearing about a special program sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The AFA introduced National Commemorative Candle Lighting in Nov. 2003 as a way to help communities recognize November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.

Like more than 200 inspirational ceremonies held across the nation this month, Sunday’s program in Stoneville included the lighting of “candles of care,” the reciting of names of Alzheimer’s victims and special comments by people whose lives have been touched by the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease, which results in loss of memory and other intellectual functions, currently affects between 2.4 million and 4.5 million Americans. It is considered to rank among the nation’s top 10 leading causes of death.

“When I found out about this ceremony, I wanted to hold one here in my father’s hometown,” said Manuel. Especially with it being so close to the anniversary of his death.”

In addition to honoring the memory of her father and raising awareness of the problem of Alzheimer’s, Manuel had another reason for organizing Sunday’s local event. She wanted to bring a new technology to the attention of local people.

She said an Alzheimer’s sufferer off Ellisboro Road in Madison wandered off in July, but was quickly located by the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office through the use of a Project Lifesaver Care Trak Monitoring System.

Manuel said the bracelets, which transmit a signal that can be picked up on a receiver used by emergency service and law enforcement personnel, cost about $230 each and $16 per month. She wants to do something to help raise funds to purchase the bracelets for local people with Alzheimer’s.

“If I can help one family keep from going through what we went through, then I’m going to do my best to make it happen,” Manuel said. “Something good has to come out of this situation.”

Manuel said she talked it over with her sister, Tabi White, and her daughter, Lee Ann Manuel Hazelwood, and they decided to hold a Memory Walk similar to one recently held in Danville and to start some special fund-raising events.

She considered bake sales, but the current weather makes that difficult.

“If anyone wants to donate money toward the bracelets now, they can do that,” Manuel said. “Then as the weather gets warmer, we can start having the bake sales to raise more money.”

Dallas Dunlap’s niece, Tina Jenkins, said Stoneville Mayor Rex Tuggle surprised the family by purchasing the first bracelet to be donated in Dunlap’s memory.
“This will give us a chance to ‘pay it forward,’” Jenkins said.

Manuel said anyone wishing to donate toward the purchase of the bracelets may contact her at (336) 573-3596.