Labor of love

By Staff
Church laymen replace stroke victim’s leaky roof
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
He worked extra hours, pinched pennies and even got by without some necessities. But no matter how hard he tried Jonathan Ford couldn’t get his hands on $3,000 to replace the leaky roof over his head. The situation got even worse when the Hartselle sheet metal mechanic suffered a stroke and became disabled.
But that changed on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when 20 men and teenage boys showed up at his house on Highway 36 East and began tearing off the old roof and replacing it with new shingles.
The Brotherhood organization at Walnut Grove Baptist Church was represented by 15 of the volunteer workers. Other churches represented were Hartselle Church of Christ, Hartselle First Baptist, East Highland Baptist and West Hartselle Baptist. Helping with cash donations were Christ Fellowship Church of God and Oak Park Church of God.
Garland Blagburn and Tom Bennich became aware of Ford’s dilemma last summer and initiated the effort to get his roof replaced.
Blagburn, a Meals on Wheels volunteer, said he learned during one of his visits from Ford his roof was leaking in five places and he didn’t have the money to get it replaced.
Bennich said some First Baptist men had agreed to take on the re-roofing after Thanksgiving week.
By 10:30 a.m. they had removed the roof on the house, repaired the decking and were ready to start putting down the new roof. The job was completed before the end of the day.
Lunch was provided for the volunteers by Southern Hickory Barbecue with a donation made by Dan Dobbs.
Blagburn said Community Action of Morgan County has agreed to do some more work on Ford’s house to make it more energy efficient. I understand they will weatherproof the windows and doors and add insulation.”