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10/20/2023 10:14 AMA lot of students have come and gone through Clinton’s Lewin G. Joel, Jr. School over the last 20 years, but one person has been a beloved constant for all: Roseanna “Pinky” Chidsey.
Every day, when the students at Joel School come into lunch, Roseanna, or “Ms. Pinky,” as the kids call her, is there to be a friendly face and help supervise the lunch waves.
“I’m in my 21st year of working at Joel. I love the job, and I love the kids,” Roseanna says.
Roseanna’s path to Joel School started when her grandchildren were born.
“I talked to my husband about leaving my job at the time so I can tend to the grandkids while their parents were working, and he said, ‘I wouldn’t want it any other way,’ so that’s what I did,” Roseanna explains.
In a short amount of time, Roseanna was in charge of watching her four grandchildren at her home in Madison.
“As luck would have it, I would have them all at our house every day, and I had the pleasure of being with them all,” Roseanna says.
However, as her grandkids began getting older and going to school, Roseanna began looking at other ways to spend her time.
“I was just home until they got off the bus. I needed a job, and I still was tending them, so I got a job at the school. It’s only for a few hours a day, and I get summers and school vacations off like they did, so it worked out well,” says Roseanna.
With her own grandkids now well out of Joel, Roseanna has continued to stay and work at the schools.
“I liked it so much I had to stay. I love being with the kids,” Roseanna says.
Asked about her favorite part of the job, Roseanna replies that there are too many positives to pick from.
“It just gives me something to do and gets me out of the house, and I really like that. I’m not saying I don’t get tired from being on my feet the whole time or that the noise level isn’t loud, but I just really like it,” Roseanna says. Additionally, Roseanna notes that the job is only for a few hours a day, so it doesn’t interfere with her and her husband’s day-to-day life or prevent them from doing what they want to do.
But for Roseanna, she says it all comes back to how much she enjoys being around the kids.
“My nickname has always been Pinky, and when I’m in a store or somewhere, it really makes me laugh when the kids recognize me outside of school and they come up and say ‘Hi, Ms. Pinky!’” Roseanna says with a chuckle.
Roseanna grew up in neighboring Madison, but she and her husband moved to Clinton two years ago to be closer to their family.
“I really like Clinton and all the people we’ve met here and, of course, my family. And I love the shoreline since I grew up in Madison,” Roseanna says.
In her spare time, Roseanna says she enjoys making her home comfortable. “I like to cook, bake, and even cleaning. I’ve always loved every home I’ve lived in, and with the one we’re in now fairly new, I like to take care of it. I just find it very comforting,” Roseanna says.
Besides the home comforts, Roseanna also likes spending time at her church, the First Congregational Church in Madison.
“I’ve been going there since I was a kid. My husband and I were even married there,” Roseanna says.
Of course, Roseanna is also quick to say that she still enjoys spending time with her grandchildren even though they’re not so little anymore.
“I’d really say my life revolves around my family and church,” Roseanna sums up.