New Ambassador: Sandy High

“Hi, my name is Sandy High – Sandra Gale (Fox)High. I am 58 years young. Wife, mother, friend, 2006 Fleer Center graduate from Salem College-BSBA, 7 year breast cancer survivor, neighbor, triathlete, full-time volunteer, recent graduate of Leadership W-S and foodie. We moved to WS 25 years ago this past June! I am originally from Philly, love me some soft pretzels and Philly cheese steaks when I go home! I will not order them any place else – they are NOT the same no matter what anyone tells you!

Kevin and I have been married 32 years, we have three children, one daughter-in-law, 4 granddogs and have been empty-nesters since April of this year. We’ve moved around some in our 32 years together due to Kevin’s education and career. We lived in Charlottesville, VA when we were first married. This is where our first two children were born: daughter – Carleigh 30 years old and son – DJ who’s approaching 28. Then onto New Haven, Connecticut for 3 years while Kevin completed his fellowship. After that time we moved to WS for Kevin’s position as an associate professor in infectious disease with Wake Forest Baptist Hospital (at that time). Kevin wanted an area where he could play golf almost 12 months out of a year. Kevin has since moved through the organization of Wake Forest Baptist Health and is currently president of the health system.

Our youngest child, another daughter, Shawn, who’ll be 25 this fall, was born 4 months after we settled in Winston-Salem. We’ve lived in our current home for 24 of the 25 years we’ve resided in WS and that’s in Old Sherwood Forest. We love this neighborhood. We wanted an area with a mix of generations since our closest family members live in DC.

I was in the food service business up until about 4 years ago when I had some back issues that prohibited me from doing the physical work necessary for this industry. My passion is food. I enjoy cooking, trying new recipes, having friends over, eating out, trying new restaurants, and socializing with everyone. Food is such a great way to bring people together. Family dinners and leftovers were big in our home. I guess being part Italian enhances my love of fresh homemade dishes and family in the kitchen.

Most of my hours recently, have been spent volunteering with WFBMC Guild, a non-profit department of WFBMC, that supports the partners and families of the faculty to make them feel welcome, get them involved in service projects and the area and show them all that WS has to offer. If we can get the partners involved the retention record is better and everyone benefits! So, I’ve been an ambassador before I knew this organization existed!

I love WS and am a true “salesperson” for this city. Being here through the change to Innovation & art has deepened my affections for the area. WS does have some challenging issues and having taken part in LWS, my eyes have been opened wider and its given me new direction to extend my volunteering to be a voice, connector, and doer for areas where that’s needed most; Food insecurities.

I enjoy spending time downtown! Walking around, talking with others, taking in an event – somewhere in the city.  Some of my favorite things to do: try new restaurants, breweries, and local shops that have sprung up! Chat with the owners and then bring others to these wonderfully unique businesses. I enjoy Salem Lake and our greenways whether it’s riding my bike or walking and cannot wait for the new multipurpose connector paths that will be created by the B40 renovations! I am involved with the bicycling community, RiverRun, as well as other events that occur downtown.

I love hiking and traveling. Our kids live in great places: Nashville, Tucson, and the Big Island of Hawaii! AND the most fun thing I got to do this summer was ride bikes with MY DAD! He’s 87 and loves to ride with his “younger” friends!

I think that having an organization such as WS Ambassadors is a great WELCOMING tool for our city! Having a centralized organization that businesses KNOW about and can either send information or people to will make navigating all of the fun happenings even better. I also believe that as ambassadors we need to “sell” WS to those that already call Winston home. Word of mouth is the best way of advertising whether we are in town or visiting elsewhere we should always be promoting others to come and “give Winston a try.”

Ambassadors will be greatly needed to help navigate B40 over the next year and half so that our local businesses do not suffer. I am excited and look forward to promoting and assisting in numerous areas of our Twin City as I do now!”