Joyce Fort's Christmas story of angels on foot

By Rose Hooper

Some folks dream of a white Christmas. Joyce Fort dreamed of a Christmas in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She didn't care if it were white or not.

Thanks to the fine people of Jackson County, Fort's dream will be a reality this Christmas.

Her dream could read like a "once upon a time" fairy tale. It all started years ago when Fort, 25 at the time, hiked in the mountains near St. Elmo, Colo. She ran into an old man who lived in a cabin with no modern conveniences. A cold-running stream through the yard kept his milk and dairy products cold.

"Something about that simple life appealed to me. I thought , 'Wouldn't it be great if some day I could actually live like that?' Pretty soon, I'd made it my dream," said Fort, who is now 54.

She was operating a retirement home for veterans in Leavenworth, Kan., when her health suddenly began to fail.

"My best friend, whose judgment I trusted greatly, told me, 'Joyce, if you have a dream, do it while you still can," said Fort, who realized if she didn't follow his advice now while she still could, she might never be able to.

"I worked hard all my life starting at age 10 when I helped my family sharecrop tobacco; I raised two girls by myself and for the last 17 years I ran the retirement home, taking care of everyone else but Joyce. I just decided it was time to finally take care of Joyce.

Fort immediately flew here and fell in love with the Cedar Farms area of Tuckasegee. She purchased six acres and envisioned building a cabin by the stream. But then that dream - and life's investment - went up in smoke. Her 120-year-old Victorian home back in Kansas burned. She had left the house with a property placement agency to rent.

"They rented it all right," Fort said. "They rented it as a business, not a home, so my insurance wouldn't pay, not one penny. There went all the money I was banking on to build my dream place."

That's when Fort discovered that the Christmas spirit is alive and well year round here in Jackson County.

Val Cornier, who has since died, helped her cut brush, clear undergrowth and landscape the Cedar Farms property.

"Val even climbed a tree and put up a swing for me," said Fort.

Although she had the property, Fort had no place to live and no money to build a home. Linda Thompson offered her cabin up John's Creek on Caney Fork. Julian Bates provided firewood, which Doyle Shuler split for her to warm the rustic cabin.

"I've learned you can do with a whole lot less, including electricity," Fort said, recalling the old man she had met on the Colorado mountaintop. "Sometimes when you lose everything, God steps in and shows you just how much the simple things mean... like sharing the cornbread I bake with the birds and three nuts a day with the squirrels who come out of the woods to be my friends."

Arnold Queen shared bounty from his garden and Grand Ole Opry on television.

"The Rev. Charles Denieta and the congregation of Cedar Baptist Church have taken me in, even though they knew I was Catholic," said Fort, whose property is just up the road from the quaint, wooden-frame church.

Being alone up on the mountain can get lonely.

"Sometimes when you are lonely, you can get depressed, especially around the holidays," said Fort. "Jean Parris - such a kind-spoken lady - urged me to get out more. She even took me out to eat. Earl Mathis helped lift me up when I was down.

"But there is one thing I learned about being down - you don't have to lay completely down," she said.

Her friends Melvin and Pat Middleton threw a birthday party for her, along with Tony Bradley and Lymon Powell.

Clarke Lipkin donated supplies and his time to help her start building a small barn. Alvin Middleton, Shannon Middleton, Sammy Jones and Kevin Luker shared their carpentry skills for the barn project, while Denny and Aaron Messer donated concrete. Cecil and Perry Queen brought windows for the barn and locust posts to line her property.

Bonnie Deitz gave her grape vines and thornless raspberry vines, which are thriving on her Cedar Farms property. Other friends have provided fruit trees and rhododendron, which Fort planted along her creek bank. She designed gardens of wildflowers, roses and herbs and plans a big vegetable patch come spring.

"I want to turn it into a little place for birds and animals to enjoy and where neighbors and friends can stop by and relax," Fort said of her plans.

"But none of this would be anything without the help of the fine people of Jackson County. So many helped I can't remember to name them all, but I appreciate every one of them. Most who gave didn't have much themselves, but they gave what they had and they gave from the heart.

"Because of all the gifts they blessed me with, and God's grace, I named the property Holy Mountain," said Fort.

"There are so many angels on foot here in Jackson County. When I was down on my luck, the fine people here showed me what the Christmas spirit of giving really means."

Back to Archive: 12/23/02.