In the fall of 1995 I discovered the Christy TV series on the Family Channel one Saturday evening. I had never seen the original on CBS but caught the "I love this story and show" bug right away. As time went on it became quite apparent that a lot of other people had the bug too!!

After mailing petitions and letters to the Family Channel and CBS requesting new episodes, I sought out other fans that had done the same thing. This search led me to travel to Townsend, TN in the summer of 1996 where I met one such fan. She had made connections with several people involved with the Christy series through her own personal campaign. With her help, I was able to make contact with Executive Producer, Ken Wales, the owner of the property where the set was located in Townsend and one particular local family who appeared in the show.

Following the visit to Townsend a co-worker found a Christy newsgroup on the Internet where you could post messages about the story. It didn't take long before I met people on-line from several states who shared the same love of Christy and its wonderful portrayal on CBS. Before you knew it we were talking about getting together in Townsend to celebrate our common interest.

That first assembly of Christy fans took place in August of 1997 and was called "A Christy Gathering." There was a total of 19 participants from Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Michigan and Tennessee. We were joined by some of the local children who appeared in the show (Kelley Clark who played Becky O'Teale, Alyssa Hmielewski, who was Mountie O'Teale, Katie Goins, who played Clara Spencer) and their parents. One night they brought their picture albums and shared their stories and experiences. It was such fun seeing them reunite with each other and we had a great time getting to know them.

In addition, Mike Hickman, who played Bird's Eye Taylor in the show, sent greetings via videotape from a dinner theater in Pennsylvania where he was performing and Executive Producer, Ken Wales, called the group from Arizona (we put him on speaker phone) to wish us well. The participants also watched outtakes from the series, viewed some of the show's costumes, walked the set and visited the Museum of Appalachia where part of the episode, Echoes, was filmed.

When it was time to depart we agreed that we definitely had to do it again the following year but decided we needed a better name for the event. A couple from Happy Valley, Pennsylvania came up with ChristyFest^TM and the name stuck!

ChristyFest^TM has been successful in so many ways. The main goal of the first gathering was to let the world know people still cared about the story and wanted future televised episodes. PAX listened and eventually produced three movies that gave fans closure. Starting in 1998, the event expanded with the attendance of adult cast members and crew and some of them keep coming (even still) year after year. Later, ChristyFest" was trademarked and a registration fee was put in place making it a more professional event. Today, attendees learn more about the real Christy and the way life was in her times, encouraging a better appreciation for her contribution to the community she served.

I could say it's really amazing that ChristyFest^TM continues after 10 years but actually when you think about it, it really isn't that amazing when you consider the topic. The story of Christy in all its forms (book, TV series, movies, real life) continues to inspire us with its focus on hope, compassion and giving to others.

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