It did not matter to Linda Johnson what the new color of her house would be, but the selection turned out perfectly.
“She said, ‘Do you have a preference on color?'” Johnson said, referring to Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Angela White-Smith. “I said, ‘I don’t care, Ms. Angela, whatever color you paint.’ She said, ‘Don’t say you don’t care because if we paint it lime green or purple, you wouldn’t like it.’ I said, ‘Oh, no. I would like it.’ I trust her judgment.”
Johnson’s previously gray house on Brentwood Drive is now Army green thanks to Lowe’s and HFH. The home improvement store awarded a $2,500 gift card to the Habitat board toward exterior house painting and landscaping for a veteran or elderly person. A team of Lowe’s employees painted Johnson’s happy abode on Wednesday.
It didn’t dawn on White-Smith she was selecting the color of the Army until she was told afterward, she said.
“The way I select the color, I always select the color by looking at the houses around, because it’s all about curb appeal and you want to make sure that you’re adding to the neighborhood,” White-Smith said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Most of the houses in the neighborhood are made of unpainted brick.
“There wasn’t a green house anywhere close to her, so I wanted her to have this Army green. That’s how we got to the color,” White-Smith added.
Johnson, 63, served in the U.S. Army from 1984-93, called to duty during the Persian Gulf War, and is a captain in the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff police, where she has worked since 1992. She previously served in the Pine Bluff Police Department.
Johnson, a mother of three grown children who bought her home in 1998, was chosen from nine applicants for the fresh coat.
“I had a friend who told me they were doing it and just (told me to) apply,” she said. “I guess I was just blessed. That’s all I can say.”
White-Smith called Johnson on Tuesday, adding Johnson met all the criteria including having served, being 62 or older and owning a one-story house.
“We needed a house we could finish in one day,” White-Smith said. “Some of the houses were either too tall or too this, and it just wouldn’t have worked out.”
HFH, based in the Donald W. Reynolds Community Services Center on West Third Avenue, has served Jefferson County for 34 years, White-Smith added. The organization is selling a house at 1840 S. Oak St. as a fundraiser and will soon have a Habitat store.
The painting is just one of many ways locals are commemorating Veterans Day, which is Nov. 11. UAPB will honor veterans during a program from 1-3 p.m. that day at the STEM Conference Center. Arby’s in Pine Bluff is honoring all veterans and active-duty military personnel with a free classic roast beef sandwich each, to be redeemed in-store only, that day, according to a news release.
Also, Pine Bluff will host its inaugural Regional Veterans Parade, with Grand Marshal Emeritus and retired Army Air Force Sgt. First Class Thomas Vaughns and grand marshals Brig. Gen. Olen “Chad” Bridges of the Arkansas National Guard and Army Lt. Col. Natasha Campbell, downtown starting at 10 a.m. Nov. 15.
Veterans Day will be more memorable for Johnson with new paint, she said, but she won’t stop there.
“I’m a have some flags out for Veterans Day,” she said. “I always do, but I’m a have more this year.”
This story is UPDATED to reflect the fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity is ongoing.
