Ask people in the community about Shanna Upchurch and you’ll hear the words “passionate” and “advocate.” While there are many in our community who help kids and pets, Shanna advocates for something a little smaller: the honeybee.
Shanna moved to Texas in 2012 and currently lives on a small homestead in Rockwall. When asked why she began to love bees, she recalls a simple moment. “A swarm landed in a tree in my yard. I could walk right up to them and see just how beautiful and incredible they were and how they worked as a society to travel and find a new home. I scooped them into a bee box, and I was hooked!” To this day, Shanna often travels to other homes in the Rockwall area to save bees by safely relocating them to her home apiary.
Shanna used her love of the honeybees as an inspiration for her new book, The Honeybee Highway. In this story, a young girl named Joey Jordan helps her uncle transport bees from Florida to California to help pollinate an almond grove. The book illustrates the values of hard work and friendship, while also teaching the importance of our connection to nature and human connection.
According to her neighbor Lauren Cameli, “She is the first neighbor to always rally everyone when any of the neighbors needs anything.” It’s part of Shanna’s willingness to help and support others that led her Shanna to becoming a local celebrity. At her recent book release day at Barnes and Noble, she sold all 150 copies of her book, setting records at the store.
Shanna’s husband, David, shares, “To me, this illustrates how warm and accepting Shanna is. She had people there from her gym community, from church, her neighbors, her kids' teachers and principals, the girls she coached in basketball, and the boys she coached in basketball and baseball. She's constantly in motion seeking to lift and improve the lives of those around her."
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