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So though reticent, Taber Gregory is relying on the sentimentality of locals who remember his family and business and asking for their help, he told Daily Voice.
He started a GoFundMe to raise up to $50,000. To date, over $1,500 has been donated, according to the page.
"I'm somewhat independent. I'm not dependent. I'm very humbled. I am sure I'm not the only one struggling. I wish everybody else well too," said Gregory.
The business makes custom wood products like fireplace mantles, tabletops and bar tops, as well as construction grade material and antique wood.
"It's very sentimental to me. There's a long history of Gregorys here in town. It's very dear to my heart. To me it's home," he said in the interview.
The nearly one-acre property is behind on it payments and catch up would require from $20 to $50,000.
"Every little bit would help. I'm not giving up and not giving in. Like my father would say, I'm 'plugging away.'"
Gregory's "costly divorce" left him near "destitute," he says in his GoFundMe appeal.
A bank recently turned him down for refinancing the mortgage and advised not to make payments to the existing one, according to him.
The funding will be used to bring the arrears up to date.
His great-great grandfather Charles E. Gregory bought the sawmill in 1856. Taber has been running the business since 2000. He gets help from his brother, a carpenter, Chris Meier and Virginia Green, a Trumbull resident takes care of finances and runs the office.
Click here for the GoFundMe page.
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