Getting To Know You…Rowan County Spotlights
Here in Rowan County, we have quite an interesting group of people. I love chatting with individuals and scratching just a little bit below the surface. I am so lucky to have so many I call friends, so I reached out to several of them to find some things about Rowan that they enjoy and maybe you might share some of their likes as well.
Mary Ashleigh Stewart
I met Mary Ashleigh several years back when she was in my fitness classes at The Forum. Just like a lot of girls she was in love with her West Rowan High School sweetheart since 2011, Chris Stewart. Mary Ashleigh graduated from West Rowan in 2016. They got married in 2019 and because Chris’ job was in Raleigh, they moved there to start their new life together.
When Covid happened, Chris was able to work at home. He and Mary Ashleigh, a NICU nurse at Wake Medical started to realize that they missed home, Rowan County.
Mary Ashleigh and Chris moved back here in August of 2021. Chris was still able to work from home and Mary Ashleigh was able to get a job with Novant working in Rowan County and Huntersville.
However, it wasn’t too far into moving back that Mary Ashleigh’s instincts led her to work for CVS Health as a Utilization Management Nurse Consultant for Aetna. So now she and Chris can both work from home in their perspective careers.
I asked her about what they like to do here in Rowan, and she said they enjoy Bell Tower Green. “We love it”! They enjoy spending time with family and friends. They also have two of the most adorable Corgies, Leona (2 yr.) and Milo (1 yr.) that keep them quite busy.
Some of their favorite places to eat are Juice Life, Koco Java, Sidewalk Deli and Mary Ashleigh said she loves Japanese food and that “Ichiban is my favorite”.
In Mary Ashleigh’s downtime, she enjoys reading “thriller” books, watching Shark Tank, doing crafts, and hanging out with her “husband and friends”.
Naturally, I asked her why they came back to Rowan, and she said they missed “their family and friends. They missed Rowan County and Salisbury”.
Kristen Trexler
If you don’t know Kristen I can’t imagine why! She is everywhere in Rowan County. Our paths crossed years ago in one of my fitness classes and immediately you just can’t help but love her!
Kristen was born and bred here in Rowan Co. and graduated in 2005 from East Rowan High School. She attended N.C. State University and got a degree in Parks and Recreation and a minor in Tourism Management. She then went to Liberty University for a master’s in management and leadership.
She has definitely used her education! She has worked for Novant for 4.5 years and said, “I LOVE IT”!! Kristen worked for the Foundation for years and recently took a new position as the Community Engagement Representative for Novant. My question to her was “are we going to be seeing a lot of balloons in your car like before” … if you know you know!! She said “Yes”!! We will get to see her at all the festivals and events where Novant is present!! You can’t miss her smile or enthusiasm for her job and life.
Speaking of life, when I inquired about some of her favorite things to do here, she said “well I am single, so I spend a lot of time with my family and friends. I love my time with my niece, Kate”. Kate is a beautiful little girl that looks like she will have the same smile as her Aunt Kristen to me!
Some favorite foods for Kristen are Italian, Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar, and her all-time favorite was the “Big Pig” growing up. I remember the “Big Pig” and if you do you know why it was a favorite. Kristen also uses a lot of Door Dash nowadays or goes to eat at her sweet Nana’s house because let’s face it nothing can beat a Nana’s cooking!
In her free time, she is glued to the Hallmark Channel and said, “it’s how I like to relax”. She also stated that pre-Covid she loved taking small three-day trips to the beach or the mountains. I bet a trip like that will be in her near future as well.
Alena Hosch Owens
This beautiful young lady bounced into my life back in the summer of 2021. She was on our dragon boat and was a great addition to the Rowan County team, The Oar-iginals, in the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce Dragon Boat Festival. Hopefully, she will join us again this July 23, 2022.
Alena’s personality is infectious, and you would know that immediately from being around her. Born and raised in Salisbury Alena attended West Rowan High School and graduated in 2000. She then attended North Carolina State University and received a degree in Criminology. She also did an internship at a Level 3 residence for at-risk females. While getting her degree at NCSU and her master’s in counseling at Webster University in Myrtle Beach, Alena lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. Upon receiving her degrees, she wanted to move back home to Rowan County and did so in 2011. In 2012 she interviewed for a Child Protective Services position with Rowan County Department of Social Services. She will have been employed with the county for 10 years this July. In her position, she investigates sex crimes against children and child abuse.
For a short period, Alena moved to Kannapolis, North Carolina where she did a side job doing stage plays and there, she met her husband, Rasheed Owens. They briefly lived in Charlotte but decided to move back to Rowan County to raise their son, Cayman Eli Owens (CEO) surrounded by family. Rasheed’s family even relocated to Rowan from New Jersey.
Now I had the pleasure to meet Cayman and I have to say he is a bright child. I challenge you to have a conversation with this young man that was 3 when I met him and who recently turned 4 in December. He’s a 21-year-old in a 4-year old’s body! This child is smart! Because of Cayman’s love of “all things trains” their family enjoys them as well and have attended several events at the North Carolina Transportation Museum including Thomas the Tank Engine and most recently The Polar Express!
When not working Alena enjoys “working out, I love to go on family trips, and please include cooking”! She and her family love to go to Christos and in the summer to the Dairy Queen. They have enjoyed the Bell Tower Green as well and attended a concert with Destiny DeBerry Stone-King who has an amazing voice. They enjoy events in Salisbury like the Cheerwine Festival and all the parades. When she has a little time to herself, she enjoys meditating.
When I asked her, what made her move back home to Rowan she said, “Passion. My passion was children. What better place to make an impact than where I was raised”? Yes indeed… where else for sure.
Kelly Alexander
If you have been to the North Carolina Transportation Museum, chances are pretty good that you have seen Kelly running around the museum. She is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for Museum Foundation, and it requires that she wear a lot of different hats.
Kelly and I have crossed paths many different times over the years through work and more lately it has been in classes at Soful Yoga and Wellness at Railwalk. I was lucky to grab a few minutes with Kelly to ask her a few things that I didn’t know!
Such as Kelly was born on Staten Island, New York, but grew up in Spencer, North Carolina. She grew up in a family of railroad engineers with her uncles and grandfather all working for Southern Railroad. No surprise that she ended up at Transportation Museum working part-time in 1986 while she was still attending school at Catawba College. When Kelly graduated in 1988, she started working full time at the museum as a Program Coordinator planning events for them, and moved into her current position over the years.
Kelly’s husband, Sandy, is also an engineer and works for Norfolk Southern. They met at the museum when he was traveling with the railroad. I guess the train tracks lead them to marital bliss. They also have two beautiful daughters, Callie and Maggie!
Whenever Kelly can get away from work, she and her family love Disney World and have been there now a total of 7 times. “There is always new stuff to do”! They also years ago packed up the family and drove cross-country to the Grand Canyon and had a lot of fun experiencing different places.
I asked if there was anything she liked to do. “I love history, love going to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, and Oak Island, we love the Cheerwine Festival, and Wine About Winter. Outside of loving to walk she also enjoys yoga at Soful Yoga and Wellness at Railwalk and added “it’s how I have survived Covid”!
Kelly said they “love seafood” at the Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar, Wong’s Chinese Restaurant, Downtown Bangkok, and The Palms Grill just to name a few of their favorite places to eat out!
Sandy Whitley
If you haven’t met Sandy, then let me introduce her to you! She is the Executive Assistant to the Plant Manager at Daimler Truck Group located in Cleveland, North Carolina. While Sandy and her husband of 12 years, Jamie, make their home in Salisbury now, she is originally from Davidson County and grew up on Horseshoe Neck Road. They have four daughters and seven grandchildren made up of six boys and one lucky little girl!
Sandy, a graduate of West Davidson High School and Catawba College, went to work for PPG in Lexington for 11 years before taking a job on the production floor of then Freightliner. From that position, she moved on to maintenance, then to maintenance dispatcher, then to assistant to the Maintenance Manager, and then she moved to her current position. Having worked with Sandy several times I can tell you this lady pays attention to detail and is always ahead of the eight ball. She’s awesome to work with if you ever get the pleasure to be around her you will find the same to be true.
When she gets any downtime, she tells me she enjoys spending time with her grandkids, doing home projects with her husband, traveling to the beach or the mountains, and going to car shows. Her husband travels for work sometimes and she enjoys going with him if she can.
Sandy also enjoys reading romance novels and biographies. When she can watch TV, she enjoys the ID Discovery Channel and Reality Shows.
If they are going out to eat, they are huge supporters of the community and “love locally-owned ‘mom and pop’ businesses” such as Morgan Ridge Railwalk Brewery and Eatery, Hendrix Barbecue, and Smoke Pit. She also said “we loved” the Polar Express at the North Carolina Transportation Museum… me too!
In The End
As you can see there are a lot of interesting people in Rowan County and you know they each have a different story, different likes, and different favorites, but they all have one thing in common… they call Rowan County home, and we are so lucky that they do.