Almost any day of the week or any time of the day, Joan Port, of Bellefonte, can be found at her family’s business, providing customers with whatever they might need or lending a helping hand with whatever needs to be done.
Port, 77, is a familiar face at Port’s Sports Emporium, a Bellefonte sporting goods institution for more than 30 years. She has been active in the business since it first started in 1966 as a body shop. She continued to be just as involved as the store developed into a well-known sporting goods business in 1986.
“We started as a body shop and just kept adding stuff. We all are part of it. It’s a family-run business,” Port said.
The “stuff” they have added through the years ranges from power equipment to stoves to guns to a full array of athletic supplies — gloves, bats, cleats, socks, helmets and much more, she said. In fact, the business continues to grow, and a new website,www.portssports.com, was recently launched.
From the beginning, and through it all, Port has been in the store every day, greeting customers and helping it to run smoothly, making it a viable sporting goods business in the community and beyond.
When she’s not in the store, you can find her spending time with family, and often cheering on her grandkids.
Aside from the business, family is at the center of Port’s life. She and her husband have three sons, three daughters-in-law and are the proud grandparents to six grandchildren, which keeps her busy — and traveling — during her time outside of the store.
“There’s always something to keep us busy. I have four granddaughters and two grandsons, and they are all involved in something,” Port said.
She said she loves to watch wrestling, as her two grandsons have made a name for themselves as standout wrestlers in Central Pennsylvania. One grandson, Mitchell, is a former state champion and the other, Brock, who is a junior at Bellefonte High School, has placed at states the past two years. Port said that she and her family have traveled all over to attend wrestling tournaments, as far away as Oklahoma and Missouri.
Her granddaughters are also active on area sports teams, playing basketball and softball. Port is on the sidelines or in the stands as much as she can be to cheer them on, no matter how far the trip.
Aside from family time, sporting events and, of course, her life at the store, Port said one of her favorite activities is attending sprint car races, and she also enjoys going to yard sales.
Port described herself as a “woman who always has to be doing something,” and said she has never let her age slow her down. Her commitment to the business helps to keep her active, as does her commitment to her family, she said.
While many people her age are retired, with their jobs being a distant memory, that’s not the case for Port, who is in the store from open to close almost every single day. And she doesn’t see that changing any time soon.
“I like to keep working. This has been my life for so long, I don’t know what else I would do. I don’t like to go shopping, so I guess I’ll keep doing this.”
