Honoring Allison Faulkner’s legacy is a labor of love.
That’s what her friends say as they work on a catfish dinner fundraiser set for 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday to raise education funds for Faulkner’s children.
The popular Greenwood musician, community volunteer and hospital spokesperson died suddenly of a heart attack on May 18 at the age of 40, leaving be-hind her husband, Rob Faulkner; daughter Lenora, 8; son Zane, 18; stepson Taylor, 20; and a multitude of friends.
A group of Faulkner’s friends have pooled their energy to create Allison’s Legacy, an education fundraiser for her kids and an opportunity for everyone in Greenwood to remember an already celebrated life.
“It’s a lot of work. I’m excited to see the results next week,” said Stella Malouf Britt, head of the Young Adults group at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, where the dinner and other events will be held.
Faulkner was confirmed in the church at Easter and had a presence there in the choir and the Young Adults group.
Britt said the organizing committee has set a goal of selling 1,000 catfish plates at $12 each and hopes to sell as many tickets as possible before Thursday.
“We’ll keep selling until we’re sold out and we’ll have 1,000 plates available,” Britt said.
Donations can be made online at the same address as ticket sales at https://allisons-legacy-education-fund.ticketleap.com/.
Tickets can also be purchased in advance at the Immaculate Heart of Mary church office and at Annette and Shelia’s Hair and Nail Salon on West Park Avenue.
A special T-shirt has been designed for the event by Faulkner’s daughter, Lenora. Shannon Melton is coordinating T-shirt sales. The shirts are Comfort Color Brand and will be Caribbean blue. They are available to order in sizes from Youth Small to Adult 3XL. Adult shirts are $25, and youth shirts are $20.
Melton said she’s not sure if the T-shirts will all be printed by the time of the event but they need to be ordered and paid for by Nov. 15.
T-shirts can be ordered by emailing Melton at smelton521@yahoo.com or calling her at 897-7971.
“We are really hoping the community will show up for the event,” Melton said, adding that Monday, Halloween, is Lenora’s birthday.
Beth Foley Barnes, another friend of Faulkner’s who has been working on Allison’s Legacy, said things are going well.
“It’s our first time together as a group to work on a project,” Barnes said. “It’s amazing when people are unified by a cause.”
Barnes said that although she understands some people will just pick up their dinners to eat at home, she hopes families will come and enjoy the events that will be set up on the green space behind the church.
“We’re going to have bounce houses from Upchurch, and we’ll have the large Connect Four, lifesize Jenga and Cornhole games from ArtPlace,” she said.
A bake sale will accompany catfish plate sales, and anyone wanting to donate baked goods should contact the church.
Barnes said the Knights of Columbus, who sell catfish plates every Friday during the Lenten season, will be on hand to cook and sell the fish with a bigger rig than usual to accommodate the goal of 1,000 plates.
In charge of keeping the catfish, french fries and hush puppies moving will be volunteers Daniel Smith and Gary Bright.
Barnes said she’s working on organizing some old-fashioned games for families and kids — such as the Saltine Race, in which “you eat four saltines and try to whistle.”
Faulkner was the kind of friend who made people laugh, Barnes said: “Allison would do anything for a friend, including lassoing your dog.”
The two were neighbors, and Barnes at one point had a dog that kept chewing through its collar and running away.
“Allison would call and say, ‘Hey, your dog is in my yard. Your dog is in my fish pond,’” Barnes recalled.
One afternoon the dog ran off and Faulkner told Barnes to watch the kids. She would take care of the dog.
“I asked, ‘How are you going to catch him?’” Barnes said. “And Allison said, ‘I’m gonna lasso him.’”
And she did. Turns out that not only was Faulkner a champion friend, but she had also been a champion lassoer in 4-H at an earlier time in her life.
“She just did so much for everybody,” Barnes said.
For more information on ordering catfish dinners or T-shirts, to make a donation or to volunteer, contact Aimee Dunn at (928) 246-0321, Shannon Melton at (662) 897-7971, or Beth Barnes at (646) 621-8766.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
