T-R PHOTO BY SUSANNA MEYER Salvation Army Lts. Chris and Abby Nicolai joined the Marshalltown community as the new directors of the Salvation Army of Marshalltown at the beginning of June after previous director Captain Pam Kasten resigned in May. The Nicolais are excited to familiarize themselves with the area and take on a new challenge.

The new corps officers for the Salvation Army of Marshalltown, Lts. Chris and Abby Nicolai, have arrived in Marshalltown, and they are gradually getting acclimated to their new positions.

After Captain Pam Kasten retired in May, there was an opening for new leadership in Marshalltown, and the Nicolais were selected for the job. The couple was previously stationed in Valparaiso, Ind., and Chris is entering his fifth year as an officer with the Salvation Army while Abby is entering her fourth year. Getting to know the new community and the location has been a top priority for them, and they are excited to jump in and get started.

“I think for both of us, we’re just excited about the opportunities here. The opportunities are definitely different than where we were before and so we’re excited for the change and the new challenge,” Abby Nicolai said.

In addition to those new opportunities, they are also getting used to the new square footage that the Marshalltown facility provides, as their building in Valparaiso was much smaller.

“Coming from a building that’s only 1,800 square feet, to this, is just remarkable,” Chris said. “We’re just excited about the opportunities that are presented here and we’re excited to see what God will continue to do through the Salvation Army.”

The Nicolais served in Porter County, Ind., which has a population of over 170,000, so coming to Marshall County, where the population is around 40,000, was a change of pace for them, but Chris wouldn’t call it a challenge. Generally, a lower population means fewer community resources, but he said that was more of a learning curve for them than anything else.

Learning about the needs of the community and building relationships with the Salvation Army’s community partners to address them is important to Abby and Chris, and as co-directors, they are confident that they will be able to “divide and conquer.”

They also have some more specific goals in mind for the future, including a focus on growing youth programming.

“For me, I am really excited about our youth programs. One of my passions is our youth, to provide a safe learning environment where they can grow and reach their full potential in life, and providing that through multiple programs and services, and to see that there could be more added to that, especially with the facility that we have,” Chris said.

Abby reiterated that goal, and she said revitalizing the Salvation Army thrift store in the 13th Street district was also a major objective of hers. Because they are expecting a new addition to the family any day now, however, she said bringing their newborn into the world was priority number one.

With only a few weeks under their belt in Marshall County, the Nicolais are still getting settled in, but they are eager to meet the community and to continue serving the mission of Salvation Army. If any community members want to stop by, the Nicolais would love to say hello.

“Just drop on in and say hello. We would love to meet everyone. We would like to get to know people, we would like to build relationships up and keep relationships going, because Captain Pam did a wonderful job here. We applaud her for her service and what she’s provided here, and we want to continue that momentum moving forward with the community,” Chris said.