On March 9, 2023, Abbie Pressley, owner of the Greenville, SC Wild Birds Unlimited store, was granted the South Carolina Order of the Silver Crescent.
The Order of the Silver Crescent is the State of South Carolina’s most prestigious service award recognizing a remarkable achievement or action, an individual’s dedicated community service or volunteerism.
The award was presented at Abbie’s store by the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, Pamela Evette.
Abbie and her daughter, Melanie Moore, have owned the Greenville, SC WBU store since 1997. In 2011, Abbie was recognized by Wild Birds Unlimited as the Franchisee Honor Award winner.
Abbie’s daughter Melanie and her husband, Stephen Shaw, started the nomination process last fall, asking us to write a letter of recommendation for Abbie based on her many contributions to the Wild Birds Unlimited franchise system, which we were happy to provide.
The award ceremony was a total surprise to Abbie. It was attended by many local governmental officials, both current and past staff members of the Greenville, SC WBU store, Denise and Eric Patten (owners of the Spartanburg, SC WBU Store), some of the store’s best customers, Tim O’Toole and Travis Clarkson, and numerous friends and family.
The ceremony started with a few words by Stephen Shaw, Abbie’s son-in-law, the Lieutenant Governor then made a short speech and presented the Award to Abbie and concluded with me giving a short speech about the contributions that Abbie has provided to both the South Carolina Community and her contributions to the WBU Franchise Community.