Margaret Abbey Foy Moore fought breast cancer for 15 years before she died. One way her family has kept her memory alive is to help save 67 acres of the woods where she played as a child from development.

Members of the community are invited to help celebrate at 5 p.m. Sept. 12 as the N.C. Coastal Land Trust and members of the Foy family dedicate Abbey Nature Preserve to the citizens and visitors of Pender County.

"She would be very happy with it," said Bob Foy of his sister Margaret. "As well as preserving the nature part of it, it's also preserving part of Poplar Grove, which is where we grew up."

Located next to Poplar Grove Plantation, the Abbey Nature Preserve is a nature park that includes hiking trails, a boardwalk overlooking a millpond and other recreation opportunities. The preserve is protected by the land trust and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

Bob's father, Robert L. Foy Jr., grew up in the manor house at Poplar Grove. Now 89, Robert Foy Jr. enjoys traveling to the preserve after church where he sits on a bench on a dam that creates the millpond. "He's the official greeter," his son said.

Bob, Robert Foy Jr. and other members of the Foy family help keep trash out of the preserve, as well as making sure the trails are clear for hikers. Visitors are often from north of Wilmington but the preserve's guests have also included people from other parts of the United States as well as Germany and Finland, Bob Foy said.

The preserve is part of the North Carolina Birding Trail, a project that links popular birding sites across the state.