Sydnye Andrews believes in following her adventurous spirit, and it has bounced her to cities near and far and led her to pursue many careers.
As a theater prop master in Maryland, a hair model in L.A., an executive chef in Key West, and now an elementary school teacher and nanny in Lewes, her story is one of loving life, even when it gets tough.
Andrews moved to Lewes eight years ago with her daughter after tragedy in Key West, when it was time to rebuild their lives. She says that happens sometimes, having to rebuild a life, but what keeps people sane is knowing it gets better, and knowing people will always support each other. “Have faith in tomorrow, and in yourself,” she said, her short brown hair bobbing as she sits back in a wicker chair.
Andrews knows how to take a situation and make it better. She gestures to the pretty front porch where she’s sitting. “I’ve always wanted a porch like this and I couldn’t find a house with one, so I bought this house and built one,” she said.
The wrist she gestures with has recently been operated on for carpal tunnel syndrome, a detail she mentions in passing as an inconvenience to throwing her daughter’s 21st birthday party and planning her upcoming celebration in Las Vegas. Adversity doesn’t get Andrews down.
She chose to live in Lewes because an aunt and uncle live in the area and her sister just moved here this year, she said. Andrews grew up in Maryland and visited Delaware many times in her youth.
“We had sand in our shoes so we had to land at the beach,” she said. Andrews said her family had just moved into a rental home in the Keys when it burned down, and her husband died in the fire. She raised her daughter single-handedly for several years, until she got tired of the hectic lifestyle. “After raising a daughter in that rather pioneer environment for several years, with too many hurricane repairs and evacuations, it was time for us to leave,” she said.
While she was in Key West, Andrews pursued her love of food. She was an executive chef at the Pier House, at the Marriott and for the Sheraton Corp. in Key West. Her ascent to head chef didn’t take long. “Food was my passion so I applied for a kitchen job and was hired as a prep cook. Within three months I was sous chef,” she said.
She was also a private chef for a wealthy family who owned a compound in Key West, where she helped plan lavish parties and entertain influential guests. “I met people from all over the world there, like the prince of Spain, members of the Gerber family, the Reynolds, and a president of Coca-Cola from Africa,” she said. But she said she wasn’t always impressed with the guests. “I remember I served Maryland-style steamed shrimp at a New Year’s Eve party, and the prince of Spain just ate it shell and all – it was so gross,” she said with a laugh.
Andrews also shared her passion for cuisine with others while she lived in Florida. She taught a culinary program at the county jail. She said she taught mostly local people the trade so they would have a career when they were released. Most of her students were in jail for petty theft, such as stealing a bicycle, not paying parking tickets or drug problems, she said.
“Everybody in Key West has been to jail, even the mayor has,” she said with a laugh. But she never landed a night in jail, she added.
Andrews said teaching was rewarding because it helped her students have more opportunities, especially because most jobs in the Keys are in the service industry. “I realized they were just good people who made bad decisions and it made me feel tied to the community. I remained friends with some of my students,” she said. Andrews tells a story about two students she ran into at a grocery store while preparing for a hurricane. “The two girls came to my house with drills and hammers to board up my house because I couldn’t do it myself,” she said.
Andrews loves teaching as much as she does cooking. She now teaches fourth grade at Shields Elementary School, and she’s also the instructor of a food, art and customs class at Wilmington College. She teaches her adult students about the culture of food and the etiquette of being in many situations. “I can sit down and roast a weenie over a fire, or sit down with the Queen of England and know what to do,” she said.
Andrews’s adventurous spirit is matched by her willingness to share a snippet of her story to help someone else. Friends and acquaintances flock to her optimism and to the compassion she spreads with an easy laugh, her brown eyes sparkling.
Contact Molly Albertson at mollyalbertson@gmail.com
