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.

Eileen thought it amusing that the girls’ menu was hot dogs, hamburgers, and smoked sausages. “She (Cora) and her friend are vegetarians. But they know most of us aren’t.” The cookout benefited the Humane Society and soon included other groups. From the beginning, volunteers prepared the food in a certified kitchen, and nonprofit organizations cooked and served.

Soon after starting Cooking for a Cause, Cora left the project in Eileen’s hands. “Of all things, that child got a job and moved to New Zealand,” Eileen says. But Cooking for a Cause had become an integral part of the Tuesday market and the lunches still benefit nonprofit groups.

Cora and Emily have left home now, but they have that civic-minded attitude that came from their great-grandparents. When Cora attended the University of Wisconsin, she heard about a 50th anniversary National Student Conference and asked if the school would like to host it. The school was interested but not equipped to handle the work involved. Cora wrote the application and spearheaded the conference.

She’s now a civil engineer in Perth, Australia, and has worked with Habitat for Humanity and volunteered on water projects in Ethiopia. Emily is a law student at the University of Indiana and does volunteer legal work.

Eileen laughs and explains why four generations do so much. “We just can’t sit still.” In a more serious moment, she says she views her community as the whole world. “I can’t impact the world, but I can impact the local situation.”



Webb City Farmers’ Market Enhances the Community

This year the market will be open Saturdays in June and July, from 9 a.m. until noon, during which time nonprofit groups can participate and entertain.



The market sponsors a Kids’ Community Garden in cooperation with Webb City School District. The garden is not limited to children in the Webb City schools. Mentors, primarily from the Missouri University Extension Master Gardeners program, help kids raise produce and teach them to display and sell it at the Farmers’ Market.



An educational program teaches immigrant farmers how to use locally appropriate growing techniques.



Workshops for the general public cover food safety, vegetable fertility, composting, pest control, and preserving water quality.



The market makes produce available to low income families through use of food stamps, and was one of only ten markets in the nation to receive a grant to have food stamps/debit/credit cards.



Other Nichols’ volunteer activities

Active in Central United Methodist Church in Webb City



Bob:

--Treasurer of Friends of the Webb City Public Library

--Member of the Historical Society

--Past President of National Society of Professional Engineers

--President of National Society of Professional Engineers Educational Foundation

--Past President of Freese and Nichols

Frances:

--Rejuvenated the Friends of the Library

Eileen:

--Rejuvenated the Historical Society

--Manages the Historical Society clubhouse, which hosts family events

--Past President of Friends of the Library

--Treasurer of State Market Association

--Crop Walk, international hunger walk, to raise funds for international, national, and local organizations (local organizations that benefit from Crop Walk are Lafayette House, Crosslines, and Salvation Army)