New bricks have been added to the LifeTouch Hospice Community Wall that circles the Union County Courthouse, and a group of local residents and SHARE Foundation officials gathered Wednesday to dedicate the additions.
"It's a wonderful way... to find your loved ones here and remember them," said SHARE Foundation President and CEO Dr. Brian Jones. "We believe it's important for our community."
Jones previously served as the director of hospice and palliative care at a hospital in Kentucky.
The Community Wall was established in 2001 to benefit the hospice facility. Families can purchase bricks in memory of or in honor of a loved one.
On Wednesday, 20 new bricks were added to the wall, honoring Margaret L. Bibby, Marion N. Clawson, Shirley Dopson-Defee, Wanda Lynn Dopson-Ivy, William Carroll Fowler, Hattie Mae Frisby-Dopson, Janie Griffin, Terry Williams Harmon, Rebeeca L. Huddleston, Tomarsheona "M" Larry, Walter Lewis, Marlon D. Lowery, Dennis W. Martindale, Candy McMurry, Thelma D. Novick, David R. Phillips, Russell B. "Rusty" Pratt, Rebecca Jane Ray, Bennie "Don" Smith and Abberteen Williams-Lewis.
"We know that life is good. There are many reasons, like today, to praise God; but we also know life is difficult," said Art Noyes, music director at Norphlet United Church, who sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness," a hymn that thanks God for mercy and love, at the dedication ceremony.
This year's dedication ceremony featured a butterfly release. Abby Alphin, counseling services provider at LifeTouch, said in previous ceremonies, attendees have been given bird seed to throw, plants to sow and balloons to release, but this year, butterflies stood out as a good way to remember loved ones who have passed.
Alphin said three things about butterflies that made their release a good choice for Wednesday's ceremony: their symbolizing necessary changes in life; the creature's representation as people in Heaven reaching out to loved ones; and the caterpillar's resurrection into a strong, beautiful butterfly.
Attendees gathered on the courthouse steps for the butterfly release, and as the butterflies were let out of small boxes, those in attendance oohed and ahhed at the small creatures' quick flights around the east side of the building.
Following a prayer delivered by Brother Luther Harris, chaplain at Life Touch, attendees made their way to the west side of the courthouse, where the newest bricks had been placed.
Butterflies flitted about overhead of the processional.
"I think this was really, really nice," said Marsha Martindale, whose husband Dennis passed away in 2019. "The love that these people share with us doing their hospice work -- they're really dedicated people."
Tyler Turner, outreach coordinator for LifeTouch Hospice, said there were approximately 1,273 bricks honoring roughly 1,300 people lining the courthouse as of Tuesday afternoon. He noted that not all bricks are memorials -- some also honor a loved one for accomplishments or for the impact they have had on others.
He said one's loved one doesn't need to have passed within the last year, or at the hospice facility, for one to be able to buy a brick to memorialize them on the wall.
"They don't have to have gone to hospice at all. They don't have to be from here. The death could have happened at any time," he explained.
Turner also gave thanks to Union County for displaying the memorial wall so prominently, near to war memorials that also encircle the county courthouse.
"It's a neat thing and we really appreciate the county and city for partnering with us and allowing us to have the space to do this," he said. "I know probably not every community would be okay with having a memorial around the Square... I think our county has a real presence and a unique shining of a light on memory of grief, of having that in the public space and not shying away from it. I think that has a healing tone when you allow it to be out in the open, say it's a reality of life... I love that our community has that."
More information on purchasing a brick for the memorial wall can be found at lifetouchhospice.org or by visiting the Life Touch facility at 2301 Champagnolle Rd.
Twenty new bricks were added to the Community Wall, which memorializes loved ones lost, that circles the Union County Courthouse. A dedication ceremony was held Wednesday to recognize the new bricks' addition. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Camille Martindale releases a butterfly during the dedication ceremony for the new bricks added to the Community Wall that encircles the Union County Courthouse. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Marsha Martindale, left, and Tina Pratt pose for a photo with bricks memorializing their husbands, Dennis Martindale and Rusty Pratt, who passed in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Their bricks were added to the Community Wall this year and the two women attended a dedication ceremony for their addition on Wednesday. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Attendees of Wednesday's Community Wall dedication release butterflies into the air at the Courthouse. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Flags are seen at half-staff at the Union County Courthouse during a dedication ceremony recognizing the addition of new bricks to the Community Wall, which memorializes lost loved ones. Flags were ordered to be flown at half-staff following the school shooting that took place in Texas on Tuesday that left more than 20 people, mostly children, dead. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)