There are at least a million life lessons to be learned growing up on a farm. One very important lesson, learned early by brothers Kevin and Dean Schechinger, is the importance of giving back to your community.

“I guess I’d call it a moral belief, that you get out of your community what you put into it,” Kevin said last month from the office at Impact Hill, a community center started by the Schechingers and several community members in Oakland in eastern Pottawattamie County.

Impact Hill serves Oakland and surrounding communities, offering everything from dance and cooking classes to continuing education, summer learning programs and athletic programs.

The idea for Impact Hill was based on wanting people to stay in the area or return home to grow the rural communities by providing amenities.

“We strive to be a safe environment for people of all ages,” Kevin said. “There just aren’t a lot of spaces where kids and adults can interact or participate in intergenerational activities.”

Charity starts at home

Kevin and Dean grew up in Shelby County on their family farm near Harlan, two of 15 children born to Elmer and Margaret Schechinger.

Kevin said that because of the size of the family and costs associated with travel, the family built an in-ground pool to give the kids something to do during the summer months.

The experience of having a pool at home, along with roller skating, arcade and other amenities in Harlan growing up, helped shape how the Schechingers think about giving back.

“After my parents enclosed the pool and we were able to use it year-round, we started inviting friends over. It snowballed from there,” Kevin said.

He said just about every kid living in Westphalia in the 1980s and 1990s made it out to the Schechingers’ pool at least once. Many nieces and nephews taught swimming lessons, and the farm quickly became an important community resource for kids and families alike.

Pictured above: Kevin Schechinger shows off a computer and 3D printing lab at Impact Hill, a community and events center in Oakland. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning is an important part of the center’s mission. PHOTO / CONRAD SCHMIDT

Things to do in Oakland

When Kevin’s own children were younger, after he and Dean relocated south of the home farm to just outside Oakland and set up their own row crop operations, Kevin looked around and had a desire for more fun things for all ages in the community.

“The idea of starting something came after we were looking for amenities for our kids,” Kevin said.

At the same time, the Riverside Community School District started construction on a new junior/senior high school building in Oakland, leaving the existing high school empty.

“The first thing I thought was that’s too nice of a building to tear down,” Kevin said.

Kevin and his wife Tera, and Dean and his wife Rita started brainstorming how to utilize the space and who they could recruit from the community grow the initiative. With the help of several board members, together they eventually settled on turning the former Riverside High School into a community center.

“When the guys brought the idea to me, I liked it right away,” said Rita, who, along with many volunteers, now helps plan programs for the facility. “It seemed like a perfect way to provide a safe space for our kids.”

Getting to work

In early 2018, the building and grounds were sold to the Schechingers with the promise they would revitalize the facility.

Armed with a lot of know-how, elbow grease and faith, and helped along by several grants and donations including from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation of Council Bluffs, the Schechingers and community volunteers got to work, updating the building for its reintroduction to the community.

“At first, I think people around town just weren’t sure about the project,” Kevin admitted. “There wasn’t opposition to it. They just wondered if people would actually use the facility.”

Most of the skepticism has slowly been put to rest as the renovated Impact Hill increased programming and other amenities in the community.

“A lot of our community members have gotten more comfortable with the idea since then,” Kevin said. “Once it was open and being used, appreciation for it started to spread.”

The COVID-19 outbreak and shutdowns in 2020 hurt Impact Hill, but they pushed through and gained back all of the visitors lost during the pandemic and are continuing to grow.

“We were closed for about nine months, and then even after lockdowns were lifted, I think a lot of people were hesitant to gather in large groups,” Kevin said.

Open for business

On Dec. 31, 2020, Impact Hill reopened for its first large public event after lockdown, hosting an all-ages New Year’s Eve party, which took place in the early evening so all the younger kids could participate.

And since that event on the last day of 2020, it’s been up and away for Impact Hill.

Currently, programs include Mommy and Me activities for young families in the morning; STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) camps; a community garden; Ag in the Classroom courses; 4-H club meetings; murder mystery nights; ladies’ night out events; parent and child cooking classes; summer programming with the Riverside district; and sports such as basketball, pickleball, winter walking club and yoga, just to name a few.

They have a long-term relationship with the American Midwest Ballet located in Council Bluffs, which provides performances and seminars/classes at Impact Hill.

And the facility offers rental space for events like birthdays and anniversaries, family reunions, club meetings and the like. Impact Hill is rented annually by the Schechinger family at Thanksgiving, where all the siblings and their families gather, along with the family’s matriarch, Margaret, who turns 97 in January. 

Typically, more than 100 family members attend the gathering each year.

“My family is my biggest supporter for this, especially my wife, kids and siblings,” Kevin said. “They were the ones who said go for it, and they were the ones I leaned on when times were tough.”

As Impact Hill continues its good works in Oakland, the organization is always on the lookout for volunteers and donations. Learn more about their efforts at www.impacthill.org.