By Amanda Harris
LEPANTO -- A group of enthusiastic Lepanto residents is raising money to bring the Painted House back home.
The group called Citizens for a Progressive Lepanto is raising money to fund their effort move the house from the movie adaptation of John Grisham's novel, "A Painted House" to Lepanto. Group members are expecting, but have not received, a letter from Hallmark giving the go-ahead to come to Kansas City, Mo., and bring the house constructed for the film back to Poinsett County.
Among fund-raising efforts, the group has sold T-shirts and Valentine cakes in the name of "A Painted House."
The design on the T-shirt depicts a little boy painting a wooden house in the shape of Arkansas. "We still have some," group member Doris Pounders added.
Most recently the group baked 150 cakes and sold them during the Valentine's Day holiday to raise money that will go to transport the Chandler home to Lepanto.
Another fund-raiser, a bake sale, is scheduled tentatively for the weekend prior to Easter.
So far, more than $4,000 has been raised, though those spearheading the effort are not sure how much it will take to get the structure disassembled, transported to Lepanto and re-assembled.
According to the group's plan, volunteers will leave for Kansas City on May 12, following the movie's first scheduled appearance on CBS on April 27.
Upon arrival, they will be charged with disassembling the 30- by 60-foot structure, loading it for transport and getting it back to Northeast Arkansas.
Ten people have already volunteered to make the trip.
These people are donating their time and equipment and have agreed to cover their own traveling expenses, Pounders noted.
But more volunteers are needed, she said, to make the Kansas City trip, help with fundraisers, or both.
Pounders told The Sun two transport trucks were used to transport the house to Kansas City.
Once the house is back, she admitted, they may have to hire contractors to re-assemble the structure.
Pounders noted three locations that are being considered for the structure's final resting place. A favorite site is located near the Portis Gin along the Little River.
If everything goes as planned, the committee will recreate the barn, wood shed and outhouse used in the movie's filming.
In addition, the committee has approached the owners of the house used as the Latcher home in the film. If that structure is donated to the effort, the site will be made into a homestead.
Currently that house is located on a farm in Bondsville, a community located a few miles outside of Lepanto.
"We intend to furnish the houses as close to the movie as possible," Pounders noted.
In addition to money earned through fund-raisers, a $1,000 grant from Arkansas Delta Byways is being used to help create a walking tour that defines points of interest in Lepanto.
The tour will be added to the "Sunken Lands" tour, which consists of points of interest in and around Marked Tree, Tyronza and Lepanto.
Twenty-nine poster-style signs encased in cypress frames are in the process of being hung in Lepanto.
At least 13 signs have already been hung, Pounders noted.
The 22- by 28-inch signs feature pictures taken of the downtown area during the filming of "A Painted House."
The signs are being placed along Greenwood which runs through the heart of the Poinsett County community.
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Copyright © 2003, Jonesboro Sun
