Allan Schmidt came to Epworth Village in December of 2002 after serving as a pastor in Chadron.  He said his plans were to, "stay at Epworth through the winter.  Obviously my plans changed."
What changed was Schmidt's increased passion to help the boys and young men at Epworth find a light in themselves.  He said his career, "has personified being God's representative for others. . . . It is so rewarding being able to see the changes that occur."
While he said it is awesome to see the changes that occur within each child Epworth serves, Schmidt said, "There is a lot of self-introspection too.  You grow a lot and learn to deal with your own feelings when working with the kids as well."
The man that thought he would only be at Epworth for a short time has grown in his career path as well.  Schmidt is now the Unit Manager at Stevens Residential Treatment Center.  He comes to this position with six years of commitment to the agency under his belt as well as a Masters in Divinity from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colo.
He credited his predecessor, Michelle Lemke, for helping him get to this point in his professional career.  "Michelle has done with me what she has done with so many other people.  She has given me the greatest gift that anyone could give.  She has instructed me, enlightened me and empowered me to be me!  I have grown in ways that I never dreamed possible.  I have been challenged and as a result I have challenged others to look down deep inside because that's where the richest part of life exists."
As Unit Manager, Schmidt said, "I look forward to deepening relationships with the staff and getting to know more about the backgrounds of our clients as I am involved in their treatment in a different way."
In his new position, Schmidt will oversee 12 staff and 12 children at the RTC level, the highest level of structure Epworth provides in the residential treatment portion of their program.  Schmidt said this structure is important so that clients can deeply focus on the issues that brought them to the agency. 
Schmidt believes wholeheartedly in the dedication of his staff, "We have people who have the best interest of the kids at heart.  They are willing to go the extra mile for the kids.  Each brings a different gift to the table and that is what makes the program work so well."
"Epworth truly makes a positive impact on people's lives, both the clients and their parents.  We are here for the kids and we are not going away."
Outside of his career, Schmidt enjoys spending time with his wife Brenda and their children and grandchild.  He also likes reading, watching movies, playing golf and working on home remodeling projects.   

Pounds hired as teacher at Epworth
Village
Learning
Center
Adam Pounds is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in the city of Martinez.  He attended Diablo Valley College where he earned his Associates Degree.  He then went on to York College to earn his bachelors. 
While attending York College, Pounds worked as a relief staff member at Epworth.  He then went on to work as a para at EVLC.  He has high praise for the program, "The family-centered treatment here at Epworth Village does not just relate to the children and their personal problems," said Pounds.  "This agency looks at children individually and tries to treat the whole child including their school and home life."
Pounds said the children at Epworth are learning, "mechanisms to cope with their behaviors and in some cases so they can survive."
His goal as a teacher is to, "help the young adults who have the ability to succeed in school but lack the tools used in accomplishing their goals."

Do you feel the tingle?
If you're a Big Red Husker Tom Osborne Bo Pelini Blackshirts Pipeline Memorial Stadium Traditions Bugeaters type of fan, read on.  If you're not, you might want to skip over this and head down to the Thought of the Week.
About this time of the year, I always stray from the comfort zone of this column and stroll over to the sports side to make a prediction on how the Huskers will fare this coming Husker year, which starts this Saturday when NU takes on Western Michigan.
I kind of went back and checked one of my columns from last September and this is what I wrote right before the USC game on September 15.
"The Big Red gets a defensive touchdown and Ali Kunalic shows off his big leg late with a 48 field goal and OH MY!, the Huskers do shock the college football world 24-21. And if you would now excuse me, I have to go schedule my lobotomy."
The way last year turned out, the lobotomy would have been preferable to watching the way the Husker's football season unfolded.  By the halftime of the Oklahoma State game when the Big Red was down 0-38 to the Cowboys, I remarked to my brother-in-law...."Mark my words. Somebody will get fired on Monday".  At the time I thought it might be Billy Calla"Headcase" or whatever his name was.  I forget.  Well it turned out to be Steve Pederson.
Any then Tom Osborne strolled back into the picture.  And the seas were calmed.  We all knew that if we would just hang on, Tom the Great would bring order to the Big Red world.  And he did.  He vanquished the evil "Husker Coach Imposter" that had been dwelling among us for four years and sent him packing back to the big city.  I forget. What was his name again?
And then "The Great O" did us one better and went out and found a coach that many of us already knew and adored for his tenacity and understanding of the "HUSKER WAY"!  Bo does know and Bo does know the land of the Big Red.  I hope everyone gives him some leeway to get things headed back in the right direction.  I tried to give William Call Somebody Who Cares the same leeway when he came on board but he decided to take my affections and dash them, tell me it didn't matter that we had been to 30-something straight bowl games and that losing to Colorado was Ok because it was just one game.  The man didn't get it.
So now we have a coach and a staff that does get it.  And for the year, I'm looking forward to watching a team that plays with effort, one that knows what they're supposed to be doing and one that after an 8-4 season record, will be playing in the Alamo Bowl in one of my favorite cities, San Antonio. No need for a lobotomy this year, I'm a "Bo-liever".

Thought for the week
This came to my attention from former York resident Evelyn Campbell who wanted to pass this along to our good friend Pirate Jim.
A pirate walked into a bar and the bartender said, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. What happened? You look terrible."
"What do you mean?" said the pirate. "I feel fine."
"What about the wooden leg? You didn't have that before."
"Well, we were in a battle and I got hit with a cannon ball, but I'm fine now."
"OK, but what about that hook? What happened to your hand?"
"We were in another battle. I boarded a ship and got into a sword fight. My hand was cut off. I got fitted with a hook. I'm fine, really."
"What about that eye patch?"
"Oh, one day we were at sea, and a flock of birds flew over. I looked up and one of them pooped in my eye."
"You're kidding," said the bartender." You couldn't lose an eye just from bird poop."
"Well, it was my first day with the hook."
You have to be careful when you're a pirate.

If you have some Business Beat news or tips to direct my way, call 362-5180 and leave a message or drop an email to news@yorknewstimes.com with the words "business beat" in the subject line.  You can also mail the item to Business Beat, c/o York News-Times, P.O. Box 279, York, NE 68467.  Dave Sjuts photo courtesy of Abbott Studio.