The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Catherine Pritchard column

Catherine Pritchard

Nov. 8, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Q: I'm a big fan of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and remember a show, maybe in 2005, where they redid the home of a Florida man who was terminally ill with cancer and who had three or four children. His name was Dunstan. What ever happened to him? Did he get better? -- S.Q., Fayetteville

A: Sadly, he did not.

Dunstan Rainford died about six months after the show built him and his family a new house to replace one that had been wrecked by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. He was 43.

His children, now young adults, own the house in Riviera Beach, Fla.

Rainford, a widowed father of three, was a cobbler and a nursing assistant. He started to repair the house after the hurricane but soon was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The disease left him physically and financially unable to complete the repairs, and the family lived in difficult conditions.

When the staff at the cancer center where he was being treated learned of the conditions, they nominated the family for the ABC show.

Ty Pennington and crew arrived in February 2006 and replaced Rainford's wrecked house with a bigger, nicer and much more hurricane-proof home in a week's time.

Unlike most beneficiaries of the show, Rainford wasn't there when the bus moved out of the way so the family could see their new home for the first time. He was getting treatment in a hospital.

He died Aug. 10 of that year.

Rainford's sister lived in the house with her two children and her brother's three children, and she maintained control of the property until last year when ownership passed into the hands of his children. -- C.P.

Q: I just relocated here and was surprised that Sweetest Day wasn't celebrated here or even mentioned. What is the origin of that celebration? It's generally the third Saturday in October, and in Ohio, it was as big as Valentine's Day. -- R.X., Fayetteville

A: According to SweetestDay.com, the event was founded around 1922 by an employee of a candy company in Cleveland, Ohio.

Herbert Birch Kingston "sought to bring cheer and some happiness to the lives of those who were often forgotten," the site says.

Kingston is said to have done that by giving candy and small gifts to orphans, shut-ins, sick and disabled people, and others who were forgotten.

Since then, the day has become more like Valentine's Day, with lots of hearts and flowers and romance.

It's mostly celebrated in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast. -- C.P.

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