Why Go to the Wine Festival?
Annual Texarkana event funds “happy place” for Alzheimer’s patients.
One festive day a year means one happy day after another for local people with dementia and their loved ones.
The yearly Twice As Fine Texarkana Wine Festival provides 75% of Alzheimer’s Alliance Tri-State Area’s annual funding. Without it, the Alzheimer’s Alliance would be unable to provide services such as the Our Place Day Respite Center for people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia-related disorders, or the Memory Café support group for their caregivers and family members.
“Because of the wonderful sponsors, our loyal community that comes out each year, we offer scholarships for respite care. We offer Project Lifesaver equipment for family members that tend to wander, at no charge. And we’re able to pay our light bills and water bills, our overhead,” said Terrie Arnold, the Alzheimer’s Alliance’s executive director.
Our Place cares for dementia patients, whom staff and volunteers refer to as their friends, three days a week. The center provides meals, activities such as crafting, and plenty of social interaction. That gives their loved ones a much-needed break from the often stressful job of caring for them.
Allan Wren, the center’s director, got involved because his father had Alzheimer’s.
“It’s not a job. It’s a mission. It’s really a ministry. It really is,” he said. “You really do help the family members more than anything else. You keep it fun and engaging for the people who come. But you also keep them safe.”
One recent morning, a group of nine Our Place friends chatted and laughed over cups of coffee as they waited for breakfast in the center. Three of their family members told the Gazette how much the respite center helps them and their loved ones.
Alana Morel’s mother, former legal secretary Joann Galloway, began showing signs of dementia about 10 years ago: repeated questions, misplacing things, difficulty driving. The disorder affected her visual perception, making every crack in the floor look like a step. Soon, she had to retire early.
Galloway, “very, very social,” found friends at Our Place and takes comfort in recognizing that they experience problems much like her own, Morel said.
“She was hesitant to come here at first, and I said, ‘Let’s just go visit and see what you think.’ And we came, and Terrie did the tour. And then she said, ‘OK, can I stay?’ She calls this her happy place.
“I can’t even put into words what this place has done for us,” she said.
Marilyn Price’s husband, John, retired in 2018, and Marilyn first noticed something was wrong as the couple traveled to visit their son the following year. In airports, he got lost trying to find Marilyn after using the restroom or getting something to drink.
“I was constantly having to go find him,” she said. “And that was when I first went, ‘There’s just something wrong here.’”
John also missed the social aspect of his life as a successful business owner, before dementia began to take its toll. Though he can no longer button his shirt, he remembers people and their names, a skill that has earned him the nickname “The Greeter” at Our Place.
“He feels like he has a purpose. He’s needed here. He’s wanted here,” Marilyn said.
Ninety-year-old former homemaker Melba Boyd recently moved into an assisted living facility, her daughter Mindy Lafferty said. Though her Alzheimer’s has progressed slowly since her diagnosis about seven years ago, Boyd can do very little for herself and needed to transition to constant supervision for safety’s sake.
“It’s been very hard for her and very hard for us. But she loves coming here (Our Place), Lafferty said. “She has that good feeling, that good memory of it, because she’s been coming for several years.
“It’s just very helpful to have a place to bring her. She’s well cared for. We don’t have to worry about anything.”
