The Walworthians: Regina Nichols
The Walworthians
A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209
by Kate Chamberlin
Regina Nichols is one of the people in our neighborhood. She lives in West Walworth, but from there it gets a little confusing. Her husband works in Rochester, her children go to the Penfield Schools, she attends Church in Penfield, her phone is the Fairport exchange and her post office address is Macedon. So where are her hearth and heart?
“I fell in love with the Walworth area,” Regina said. “My husband’s job with RG&E brought us here in 1991, so we rented for a while and I just wanted to stay.”
Although Regina has traced several ancestors to Pultneyville, she grew up in Saratoga Springs and attended NYU. She was home for a week end visit and happen to go to a party. Despite others warnings, she met and danced with a Navy man.
“He asked if we were Skidmore girls,” Regina recalled. “It was terribly corny, but he asked me to dance and that was that.”
William Nichols is in Energy Operations with RG&E, working out of downtown Rochester. He and Regina have two daughters, Helena, age 5 and Sabrina age 3.Their family is rounded out by a German Shepherd named Shep and a 7-toed cat named Wesley.
Regina’s top priority is her family, but she manages to keep herself very busy in other ways, too. She has served on the West Walworth Election Committee, was on the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church social ministry committee that sponsored the first Habitat for Humanity in Monroe County, participated in the Walk With You Project that provides mentors to welfare to Work clients, as well as writing children’s stories in verse and serving as co-chairman of the Walworth Food Pantry.
“I saw a plea for Food Pantry volunteers in the Town Topics,” Regina said. “You think of hunger as only being in the city, but it is everywhere. I have a sense of community and I want my daughters to have it too. My 5-year old often goes with me to help pack groceries and things.”
Regina gets very enthusiastic as she talks about purchasing items in bulk, distributing them, driving around to pick up sewing machines for the mentoring program Gwyn Bassage facilitates, procuring donated cases of goods and setting up schedules for volunteers.
“Eventually,” she bubbled, “I’d like to see us have enough space to offer household items and clothing, but for now we do very well with what we have.”
The perishables come in on Tuesday evening in readiness for distribution on Wednesday evening 6:30-7:30 PM at the Walworth Baptist Church. Volunteers are always welcome to help distribute goods, bag groceries, deliver heavy items and chat with clients.
“It is also important,” she said, “that we are feeding bellies and spirits. The Out-Reach Mentoring program is building self-confidence and self-worth.”
Regina purchases the perishable goods with the cash donations, but canned goods, paper goods and toiletries may be dropped off at the Walworth Hardware, Jax’s (hair) Salon and the Town Hall from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM week days.
Various community organizations are very helpful in stocking the Food Pantry’s shelves not only at holiday times, but also all year round.
Regina didn’t want to let her college education go to waste as she stayed home with her young children, so she resurrected a manuscript she’d written during one of her college classes. It needed a little work, but she liked it and wondered if she could do it again.
She has a unique talent of writing in verse! Her stories are charming, humorous and appealing to a wide age range. “Little Rabbit Sleeping” is a manuscript for a young child’s board book she hopes to have published eventually. It opens with: Little Rabbit’s sleeping In little baby’s shoes, What a cozy place, To take a bunny snooze.
Thank you, Regina, with your sense of community, talent and mirth, you are a Walworthian with the accent on worth.
2018 Up-Date: With the advent of Food Link trucks coming to our area, the Walworth Food Pantry became redundant and disbanded.