HILL CITY - On a hot summer day, surrounded by cheerful
Christmas decorations at Hill City's Mistletoe Ranch, Joan Davis
becomes contemplative when recalling her childhood in
Montana.
"I have always loved Christmas. We didn't have much, but my
mother always made it special," she said, her eyes welling.
Her mother had a souvenir shop, and Davis would clean the
showcases and excitedly open the boxes of merchandise.
Many years later, you can find Davis arranging the displays at
Mistletoe Ranch, which has expanded greatly since she bought the
business 10 years ago.
"It was 1,200 square feet then. Now it's just short of 9,000,"
she said.
Mistletoe Ranch is just one of a series of business successes
in Davis' life.
When she moved from Montana to South Dakota with her former
husband, who worked at the Badlands for the National Park Service,
the mother of four took a part-time job as a sales clerk at the
Cedar Pass Lodge. She worked her way up to manager, a job she had
for 13 years.
"During that time, we remodeled and redid everything, from the
cabins to the gift shop to the kitchen. I had 83 employees," Davis
said.
Five years ago, Davis developed an interest in quilting. She
started the Quilt Corral, adjacent to Mistletoe Ranch, and has
become a prize-winning quilt designer.
On the wall is one of her creations, a dramatic quilt with
brilliant golds and reds. It's called the Katrina Quilt.
"We donated 1,110 yards of fabric and cut it into kits.
Customers made quilts and sent them back. Then they were sent to
New Orleans," Davis said. Nearly 250 victims of Hurricane Katrina
received the quilts.
Her latest enterprise is Gutsy Geisha Designs, a pattern line
that features Asian fabrics and kaleidoscope themes.
A cancer survivor - Davis has undergone a double mastectomy
and has had a kidney removed - her outlook on life and business is
remarkable.
"I have to smile about it and go on," Davis said. "My
philosophy is hard work and determination, and taking a dream and
turning it into reality. I feel very lucky, very blessed."
Because of her health, Davis plans to sell Mistletoe Ranch and
concentrate on her pattern business. "It's time for me to slow
down," she said. "I have worked hard all my life."
But, Davis said, she has "loved every phase of my life. I've
never had time to be bored, and I think I can look back on my life
and smile."
