ForeverGreen Annual Awards Luncheon 2025

Upstate Forever’s ForeverGreen Annual Awards Luncheon celebrates individuals and organizations for significant contributions in fields related to conservation and sustainable growth. 

2025 honorees

This year's honorees include three passionate individuals making an indelible impact on the region's natural resources:

TOMMY WYCHE LAND CONSERVATION CHAMPION
Honorable Ted Shehan, for his decades-long commitment to public service and volunteer efforts to expand awareness of natural resource conservation initiatives

CLEAN WATER CHAMPION
Melanie Ruhlman, President of Save Our Saluda, for her tireless efforts to protect rivers and streams in the Saluda River Basin and across the state of South Carolina

PUBLIC SERVANT OF THE YEAR
Representative Patrick Haddon, for his visionary leadership role in the Working Lands Preservation Act, which makes land conservation more accessible for South Carolina’s farmers

guest speaker

In addition to the awards ceremony, Upstate Forever is honored to welcome Greenville's inaugural Poet Laureate, Glenis Redmond, who will give a special poetry reading as part of the event program. Glenis is a Baldwin Fellow 2024-2025 and a Poet Laureate Fellow 2023 as selected by the American Academy of Poets. She was chosen to be a Citizen Diplomat with the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center.