After a pause to honor the late Earl Fletcher, we are starting to pick up the pieces and are working to finish the job he dedicated the last years of his life to. Nine days before his passing we spoke via phone and agreed to the colors of paint to be used on Seth Babb’s Homestead in Greeneville, TN. There was nothing remarkable about the conversation, except that it proved to be our last. A follow up email still sits in my inbox, that I’ve found impossible to delete. His final words to me were thus:

Daniel,

I like the Revere Green and the Briarwood Green.  What is the name of the company that produces this

paint?

Thanks for all that you are doing on this project.  I remain…

Earl

NGM

Executive Director

Responding with the name of the paint company I didn’t think much more about it. In those 9 days Earl had already gone and bought the paint. He was ready to start painting the Door/Window Trim himself and worked daily on making preparations.

He signed the message as always saying “I remain”. Earl remains in my mind and he felt in his blood that finishing this homestead was the right thing to do. That spirit pumps through my veins also and we will carry on to finish this most important job. Expect to see work pick back up in the next couple of weeks culminating in the new permanent roof we expect to deliver next month.

To explain the colors a bit more in depth. The lighter green is to be painted on the replacement Interior wall. This will cover the remnants of wallpaper that could not be removed and will also serve to lighten the interior. The Door Trim (but not the doors themselves) will be painted the darker green in order to provide an aesthetic appearance to the exterior. These paints are historic reproductions of paint that was available at the time the homestead was built.

These colors will be a tribute to Earl as we set about finishing the job.