Twitter post turns Fresno shop owner's forgotten anniversary into day he'll never forget
FRESNO, California -- A community rallied around a local store owner after no one showed up to his store's anniversary, and it was all thanks to a woman on Twitter.
Dave High marked 35 years in business at Sunrise Health Foods in Fresno, California, Wednesday, offering cupcakes and drinks for folks who came by.
But nobody came, until Kayla Jackson and her husband walked in. It then turned into a day that High will never forget, with customers coming through the doors non-stop.
Calls came in from Colorado, Mexico and Hawaii, and all of the commotion started after Jackson and High chatted.
"We were just talking to him, and he was just saying it was his 35th anniversary and how he didn't expect it to be this slow," Jackson said. "And he was kind of sad that no one had come in yet."
So she took to Twitter and sent out the following message, "This is Dave, he owns Sunrise Health. Today is his 35th anniversary, and he was expecting people to come in, and no one showed up. I just got here, and he brought everything out to celebrate. Can we get him some recognition?"
But that wasn't all. She also tweeted a few more pictures, and then, the store's phone number.
"Call him and make his day," she wrote.
It didn't take long before the word spread far and wide.
"It just went off the clock," High said. "Everybody was coming in from 9 a.m. until right now. People were in the store shopping."
High and his wife Christina met at Fresno State, and they opened the store right after graduation in 1983. They got married two years later and have five children and one grandchild. They also have thousands upon thousands of items lining shelves around the store, everything from essential oils to foods to vitamins.
High doesn't do social media. In fact, he doesn't even advertise.
"I can memorize dates, or names, and try to be friendly to people," he said. "I've got the Irish background. Maybe it's just stubbornness."
High has a list of his customers and people he's talked to on the phone, written out by hand on a notepad.
Jackson is married to the shopping center's security guard, and they say High has helped them with all kinds of products. So they were happy to get the word out about his anniversary.
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