Pam Cox has a style all her own. It may be seen in the clothes she wears, but even more so in the way she meets and greets people in the many facets of her daily life.
Recognized recently by the CARTI Auxiliary as the 2017 Festival of Fashion Style Icon, Cox, 62, said the best fashion advice she ever received was, “Always be yourself. Don’t copy someone else.”
The Festival of Fashion is one of several events presented during the annual CARTI Auxiliary Festival of Trees, which was held this year Nov. 15-18 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Cox, who has lived in Benton since 1974, is a former president of the CARTI Auxiliary and was overall chairwoman of the organization’s 30th Festival of Trees in 2006, which, said Ron Standridge, CARTI public relations coordinator, raises an average of more than $300,000 annually on behalf of CARTI and the cancer patients of Arkansas.
“My neighbor, Kelly Rickard, and my friend, Kim Cook, introduced me to the CARTI Auxiliary,” Cox said. “They talked me into doing something with Christmas trees and decorations, and here I am, 17 years later, still involved.”
That event was CARTI’s annual Festival of Trees, which, Standridge said, has raised more than $7 million since its inception to support the mission of CARTI and provide direct financial support to the patients it serves.
“The CARTI Auxiliary is the most wonderful, caring, giving group of people,” said Cox, who is the business manager at Fiser Tractor in Alexander.
“Currently, I am secretary-treasurer of the organization. I have served in just about every position. This year, I was elected to serve as the Style Icon. It is a quite an honor to be chosen by your peers to do this,” she said.
“They came to me in February, here at work, and asked me to be the Style Icon. They told me they wanted to honor me for always presenting a unique style, and for my decorating abilities. They asked me if I would accept,” Cox said.
“And then they presented me with a box of cupcakes,” she said, laughing. “How could I turn that down?
“I accepted and then shared the box of cupcakes with everyone here at work. I was honored, but no way was I going to eat one of those cupcakes, knowing I would have to get up and model in front of thousands of women. I couldn’t afford to gain a pound.”
Cox did get up and model during the Festival of Fashion, wearing an outfit provided by Barbara/Jean Ltd. of Little Rock.
“It was fun,” Cox said. “I walked down the runway, and they presented me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. It was very humbling to be honored by my fellow auxilians.”
Cook, of Little Rock, who is also a former Style Icon, a former Festival of Trees chairwoman and a former CARTI Auxiliary president, as well as a former member of the CARTI Foundation Board of Directors, said, “Pam and I have been friends for years.
“One of her best qualities is having a giving and serving heart. Her dedication to her friends and family is unbeatable. She has her own flair with fashion, including trendy and classic pieces. I am proud to call her my friend.”
Cox said the CARTI Auxiliary started the Festival of Fashion eight years ago as another way to raise money for CARTI.
“Everything we make goes right back into CARTI,” she said. “We are all volunteers.”
Cox said that in addition to the Festival of Trees, other events the CARTI Auxiliary sponsors are the annual Rajin’ Cajun Bash, which is a crawfish boil and silent auction; the CARTI Golf Tournament; and the Tour de Rock bicycle ride.
“After I had been involved in about three or four Festival of Trees events, my good friend and sister-in-law Betty Tipton got involved with the CARTI Auxiliary and was later diagnosed with breast cancer and treated at CARTI,” Cox said. “So we have now seen the other side of CARTI and are giving back even more, knowing CARTI saved her life. She is a 13- or 14-year cancer survivor. We are now even more indebted to CARTI.”
Cox is a daughter of the late Dewey Morris and Mary Poe Morris of Benton.
“My mom died in January 2014 from a heart attack, and four months and nine days later, my stepdad died of a broken heart,” she said. “My biological father, Billie Poe, was electrocuted in an accident at International Paper Mill in Pine Bluff when I was 5.”
Cox graduated from Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff and attended Grayson Junior College in Dennison, Texas, for one year and, later, General Motors Business College and Training Center. She was a finance/business manager for automobile dealerships before she went to work at Fiser Tractor.
“We are the No. 1 dealer in the United States in extended-warranty sales,” she said. “I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but it is my expertise in selling those warranties when I was in the automobile sales business that led to this dealer offering extended warranties to its customers.
“I have a lifetime of selling experience, and I brought it to this tractor dealership. I just sit down and visit with the people. I let them know what is available and then let them make up their own minds. There is no high pressure involved. I treat people honestly and with integrity. … I think people appreciate that.”
Cox said she is not ready to retire.
“According to Social Security, I have to work until I am 66 years and 2 months old to get full benefits,” she said, laughing. “So I have at least four more years to work before I can retire. The people here are so wonderful to work for; I can’t imagine wanting to retire before then.”
In addition to her work with the CARTI Auxiliary, Cox is also involved with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. She is a past Benton City Council alderman, serving one term during the 1980s, and she is active in her church, Spring Creek Baptist Church.
“I meet myself coming and going,” she said, smiling.
Cox said she and her husband, John Cox, have traveled extensively. He is retired from the automobile business and won many of the trips as a result of his success in the industry.
“We’ve been to Australia, France, Switzerland, Thailand … just about everywhere,” she said.
“We’ve even flown on the Concorde. We flew from New York City to the south of France in three hours and 15 minutes. We flew at Mach 2 … twice the speed of sound. You couldn’t even tell we were going that fast. We have had some fabulous trips,” Cox said.
“We also enjoy cruising with friends. In February, we are going to the Caribbean, and then when I get home, two weeks later, I am going on a ‘cousins’ cruise,’ also to the Caribbean; This will be a first for us cousins,” she said.
“Although I am not ready to retire, I do have a bucket list,” Cox said. “It includes traveling more with my husband and spending more time with our grandkids and my cousins. I hope to continue to travel with my travel buddies as well.
“I also look forward to being able to do more things with my Sunday School class and the ladies Bible class at my church.”