For the Salisbury Post

Historic Salisbury Foundation has announced that Amy Baugess will be chairwoman of the 2019 OctoberTour.

Baugess began volunteering with OctoberTour in 2017 as house manager for the Hanford-Dole House on South Fulton Street. In 2018, she became head of all OctoberTour house managers.

“I am very honored and humbled to be asked to chair the 2019 OctoberTour and anticipate an exciting and innovative tour,” Baugess said in a news release.

“I have enjoyed volunteering with the Historic Salisbury Foundation in the past and hope to help create interest and enthusiasm for HSF and OctoberTour by celebrating the architecture, history and timelessness of our area.

“I have been fortunate to have two women, especially, whose positive influence helped to mold my thinking regarding OctoberTour. My mother, Elaine, amongst many other things, encouraged her children to make volunteering a rewarding and permanent part of their lives (and) Mrs. Mary Hanford, Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s mother, who was always so very ‘Salisbury proud’ and promoted local people, products, causes and history with equal fervor.”

Baugess is a property manager for Dole. She often has said she has the “best job in the state that no one knows about.”

Baugess has worked in various capacities for Dole and the Hanford family for almost 25 years.

Baugess was born in Charlotte but enjoyed a childhood as a military brat, living up and down the East Coast. She enjoys helping at Rockwell Christian School, volunteering at her church, managing the “desk” for her husband’s landscaping business, and assisting as a Rowan County Elections Board official.

Her passions include her faith, animals, gardening, cooking, music and reading, particularly mysteries.

Baugess lives in Rockwell with husband, Scott, children Logan and Maggie, and an eclectic collection of dogs, cats, chickens and a lizard.