MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man says in a time when pieces of history are constantly being lost, he's doing something about it. This is no small undertaking. It's a story where preservation meets pure ambition.
On a day last December, crews and a large truck surrounded a building. To understand what was going on on Nonaville Road in Mt. Juliet, you have to know Rufus Page.
"It just takes a special kind of idiot to do what I do," said Page. "I was born on Mt. Juliet Road. I remember when Mt. Juliet Road was just a gravel road, maybe ten cars a day. I'm a local guy. The next move I make is going to be across the road to the cemetery. I live across the road from the cemetery. That's my next move."
Page is in no hurry to get there.
"I've escaped death," he said. "I had melanoma cancer. They gave me six to 10 months to live. I said, 'doc, I ain't got time to die. I got too much to do.' That was about 15 years ago."
Page is on a mission. On a day in December, Page was moving a church.
"It started out as a school in 1896," he said, standing in front of the building loaded up onto a truck. "In 1947, they deeded it to the Church of Christ. Lot of history right here."
It was likely to be destroyed before Page got it.
"I can't say 'thank you' enough to Rufus for acquiring the building and preserving it," said Wilson County historian Jerry McFarland.
The church was going to Page's Circle P ranch to sit along other depot buildings and stores from history he's relocated.
"He's restoring history there on that farm," said McFarland. "He's taking this building, and it'll be available for weddings and singings and preachings. It's a matter of teaching young folks what life was like and has been."
First, the church had to travel the miles to Circle P Ranch.
"Our goal is not to make the morning traffic report," smiled Don Toothman, overseeing a move in the dead of night in December. "It's gonna be pretty tight. It's gonna be rough getting it out of here. The church is 30 feet wide. That asphalt out there is 24 feet wide, so we've gotta stick that extra footage on either side of the road to get out of here. We're gonna have to dodge mailboxes and go over and on top of guardrails, that kind of thing. You could put half a glass of water in the front door, and it'll still be there when we get to Rufus.' We try to make it so the building doesn't know it's being moved."
At Circle P Ranch on Saturday, people were gathered in memory of country singer-songwriter Luke Bell who died earlier this year. It's been nearly a year since the church was moved to the ranch.
"We're about halfway through with it," said Page, making his way to the church. "Maybe by springtime we'll be through with it. The church is gonna be real pretty when we get through with it. The church will hold about a hundred people."
For the people at the ranch Saturday, there was an air of deep-rooted tradition in being around these buildings of the past, in being able to come together as a community.
"It's very peaceful out here," said Page. "I'm honored so many people can come out and enjoy it."
For moments like this, Page has no plans to slow in making a very special place.
"I don't have time to die, not yet."
