Fundraisers to be held in Darcy Manor's memory

Staff Writer

June 20, 2007 02:01 pm

— Community finds various ways to soothe
feelings of loss after Darcy Manor tragedy
By SUZANNE MOORE
ELLENBURG -- Eric and Leigh Gibson were on the road with their Gibson Brothers bluegrass band when they learned schoolmate Darcy Manor had been murdered.
North Carolina is a long way from Ellenburg Depot, but their hearts went home.
"I graduated with Darcy in 1989," said Eric. "This is a horrible loss."
Manor, a bus driver for his alma mater, Northern Adirondack Central School, and owner of Ellenburg Depot shop D.J. Auto Repair, was killed in Mooers on May 10.
He leaves his wife, Heather, two sons, Jake, 5, and Evan, 19 months -- and a community that deeply grieves his loss.
"A little town has a broken heart," Eric said, "and it's not going to mend anytime soon."
On Sunday, the Gibson Brothers will remember Mr. Manor with a performance that will benefit the scholarship created in his name.
"You don't feel so helpless if you can do something," Eric said. "What we do is play, so ..."
Others have had that same notion.
So many donations to the Darcy R. Manor Memorial Scholarship Fund have flooded in that the first award will take place at this year's NACS graduation.
"We have had significant amounts of money toward the scholarship," said Superintendent of Schools William Scott.
Mr. Manor loved working with his hands. He was a skilled mechanic who found pleasure in farming, too, the superintendent said. And so his family will select scholarship recipients who have the same kind of interests.
Two students will be chosen this year, Mrs. Manor said.
TRUST FUND FOR BOYS
Also planned is a golf tournament at North Country Golf Club in Champlain on Aug. 19, with proceeds going to a trust fund for Jake's and Evan's future education, whether it be college or trade school, according to Alan Cardin, one of Manor's uncles.
"Whatever we can do for those two boys ...," he echoed Scott.
The concert by the nationally acclaimed Gibson Brothers is being organized by the Kiwanis Club of Ellenburg.
"Their entire band will be there," said Scott, who is club secretary. "The boys will be coming in from southern Vermont after playing late into the night.
"It's a celebration of the good things in life," he continued. "It honors Darcy and the family and all they've gone through."
REMEMBERED BONHOMIE
Mr. Manor had a kind of good humor and friendliness that won him buddies from every generation, said Eric, from the children who rode his bus on up to the group of older men who made a habit of hanging out in his car-repair shop.
Eric's own father, Kelley, often joined in.
"It was a riot to go in there," said Eric, who'd had his car worked on by Mr. Manor. "They'd just razz each other.
"That and country music (on the radio). He'd work hard, but he had that going on.
"He was a great guy."
The Manors do feel uplifted by the powerful response to the tragedy, whether it has come in the form of scholarship donations, cards and other gestures, said Betty Bushey, an aunt of Mr. Manor's.
"Everybody's been so wonderful," she said. "It's been amazing, the outpouring of support and love."
The Gibson Brothers concert to benefit the Darcy R. Manor Memorial Scholarship is at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at Northern Adirondack Central School in Ellenburg Corners. Tickets are $15 per person and are available in advance at the High School office or at Dick’s Country Store on Route 11 in Churubusco.
Donations to the scholarship fund may be mailed to Northern Adirondack Central School, P.O. Box 164, Ellenburg Depot, NY 12935.
The North Country Golf Club Benefit Tournament for Jake & Evan Manor is set for Sunday, Aug. 19, with time to be announced. Cost is $60 per person and includes golf, cart and hamburgers/hot dogs. Applications for the four-man scramble are available from the Golf Club in Champlain or by contacting the following: Dustin Beauregard, 297-5814; Alan Cardin, 297-3049; Kevin Gero, 236-7388; or Dennis Phillips, 297-3625.
Businesses and organizations are invited to make donations of cash or prizes by calling any of those numbers. Make checks payable to Knights of Columbus 3525 and mail to:
Alan Cardin, 7 Trahan Drive, Rouses Point, NY, 12979, or Dennis Phillips, 19 Stewart St., Rouses Point, NY, 12979.

smoore@pressrepublican.com

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