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Have you met Heidi Majors, the executive director of the YWCA at 112 Gatewood Ave. in High Point? If not, you have missed a treat. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

Majors recently won the Business Woman of the Year Award in High Point. She had been on the committee that selects the winner for five or six years but was not on the committee this year. Jane West of North State Communications nominated Majors.

It was a total surprise to Majors until she actually received the award. Her husband, co-workers and parents were in on the surprise and co-worker Kathy Vernon got her to a luncheon event at High Point Country Club at Emerywood.

Vernon sat with Majors at the luncheon. Majors said, "I noticed that Kathy kept moving my car keys to get me to change seats. I kept moving them back. It wasn't until I went up to get the award that I looked over and saw my husband, my family and my in-laws. Somehow they had managed to keep everything a secret."

In her nomination of Heidi Majors, West said, "She has brought in many women, from younger to older, to serve on the YWCA's board and given them leadership opportunities that they otherwise would not have experienced."

The award is named to honor Sheila Pigman, a High Point businesswoman who is deceased. According to Tom Dayvault, president and CEO of the High Point Chamber of Commerce, "The award serves to keep Ms. Pigman's memory alive and to remind High Point business leaders of the type of businessperson they should strive to emulate."

Majors felt very fortunate to have met Sheila Pigman during the first couple of months of working at the YWCA.

"She was always very gracious and willing to help," she remembered.

Majors didn't travel very far when she took the job as the director of the YWCA. She grew up in Jamestown, graduated from Ragsdale High School and received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in tourism, recreation and parks from UNCG. Before taking the job here she worked for Winston-Salem Department of Parks and Recreation and then for the American Red Cross in High Point. She has been at the YWCA since 2002.

Majors said surveys show that being located in the core city area means the YWCA often serves middle- to low-income patrons.

The YWCA attempts to meet residents' needs by providing programs for children and adults. The heated pool is used for recreational swimming, lessons and therapeutic services.

The facility serves children in its after-school program. The YWCA recently received a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families grant, which provides after school-care for 70 students from Jamestown and Welborn middle schools.

There are plans for a new business incubator service in the near future, which means the YWCA will provide space for some startup businesses. The facility is already doing this with a pottery studio and provides a place for class members to sell their pottery.

The YWCA was first opened in High Point 87 years ago. "The YWCA is not the same as many people seem to remember from past years," Majors said. "It is not the same as it was even three years ago. Our staff size is not increasing but the needs of people in the community are. Dana Hester in our Women's Resource Center had over 300 calls from people in the community asking for help. We welcome volunteers to help in many departments of our organization."

If you have news of High Point, please contact Kathy Johnson at mjohnson2@triad.rr.com.