Community service is a way of life for the Nichols family of Webb City. Bob Nichols explains that serving is the attitude he grew up with, and that attitude has come down through four generations.

Bob, now in his eighties, says his father, who was a municipal engineer in Texas, was chairman of the board of the Chamber of Commerce and on the Texas Water Development Board. “Very active,” Bob says. “I just thought that’s what you did.”

One of his more recent projects has been to serve on the Tri-State Water Resource Coalition, studying a 15-county area’s current and future water situation.

Bob’s wife, Frances, also came from a family that believed in giving back to the community. Her father only attended school through sixth grade, but he valued education enough to serve on his local school board for twenty-five years.

After seeing their parents’ strong commitment to community involvement, Bob and Frances found it natural to get involved. Bob is semi-retired from Freese and Nichols engineering firm headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas. (Semi-retired just means that he takes some time for fun as well as work.)

The Nichols’ daughter, Eileen Nichols, describes Bob as a savvy traveler who flies at least three or four times every month. He makes one or two monthly trips to Texas and goes to Washington, D.C., several times a year for Engineering Society business. For fun, he and his daughter went to China last year and plan a trip to Scotland and Australia this summer.

At one time Bob was president of the Boy Scouts Ozark Trail Council and Frances headed the Girl Scouts. They believe they were the only husband and wife team leading the two Scout groups. For their 50th wedding anniversary, they gave themselves a party and asked guests to donate to the scouting program. Bob and Frances matched the monetary gifts and made generous contributions themselves to the scout groups.

Market-able Idea

Eileen is the third generation serving her community. Nine years ago, while chairman of Webb City’s Downtown Committee for the Chamber of Commerce, she started Webb City Farmers’ Market. She laughs because she didn’t know what to expect. “I was so ignorant at the time that I didn’t realize markets usually failed, so we didn’t.” Markets have since become more popular and successful.

Eileen’s plan was for Farmers’ Market to be more than a business—she wanted a gathering spot to enhance the community. Her plan worked, and people gather at King Jack Park every Tuesday and Friday from April until October. More than twenty nonprofit groups participate each summer to raise funds or give out information on their programs.

Eileen describes herself as an idea person and credits her husband, attorney Phil Richardson, as the labor behind the ideas. Many of her projects involve food, and Phil does most of the cooking.

Cooking for a Cause

They passed the attitude of service on to daughters, Cora and Emily, the fourth civic-minded generation. About four years ago, Cora finished her Master’s Degree and came home for a break until she got a job. The Farmers’ Market at the time had no Tuesday lunch, so Cora and a friend started a cookout, which became Cooking for a Cause.