Schmidts receive Community Service Award
By Nathaniel Underwood
The AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce honored Kelly and Todd Schmidt with their Community Service Award at the chamber’s annual banquet held on March 13.
The pair were selected for their involvement in a variety of community organizations including the Colby Lions Club, Zion Lutheran Church in Colby and local government.
Receiving the award left both feeling appreciative of the acknowledgement and humbled that they were selected.
“We are quite honored and humbled to receive this recognition,” Todd and Kelly said over email correspondence. “We thank the AbbyColby Crossing Chamber of Commerce for this honor. The awards banquet was extra special for us because of the many family members that attended to support us.”
Having both graduated from Bloomer High School, Todd and Kelly worked for the Bloomer Advance newspaper before moving to Colby in 2000 for positions at TP Printing, with Todd serving as the editor of the Tribune- Phonograph and Kelly as the sales manager for the Tribune-Phonograph, Star News, Record Review, Tribune Record Gleaner and the Cornell Courier.
Todd also was the owner/operator of the Bloomer Hotel for 25 years and served for six years as the economic development director for Bloomer and Cornell before coming to the area.
Kelly still holds her position as the sales manager for the five local papers while Todd retired from the newspaper industry in 2019. He currently works as an IT assistant and bus driver for the Neillsville School District.
The pair recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on March 11, and between the two of them, Kelly and Todd are proud parents of eight children. They also have 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
In the 25 years since moving to Colby, the Schmidts have become familiar faces to many. The pair of Bloomer transplants grew to love the area and have since become an active part of the Colby and Abbotsford communities, offering their time and energy to a number of area organizations.
As members of the Zion Lutheran congregation, the Schmidts are involved in many of the church’s community efforts. While Todd sits on the church board of lay elders, Kelly serves on the church’s board of directors. She also helps to coordinate sub sales for the church, which raises money for youth programs put on by Zion Lutheran, and supports the Zion Daycare.
Both are active members of the Colby Lions Club and are involved in many Colby residents’ favorite event of the summer, Colby Cheese Days. Kelly serves as the co-chair for Zion Lutheran’s Cheese Days cheese curd stand while Todd spent multiple years as the chairman of the Colby Cheese Days committee.
Todd’s connection to the AbbyColby Crossing Chamber of Commerce long precedes the award. He was one of the founding members of the organization and once sat as the chamber’s president.
Todd has also taken on a variety of positions in local government. He served for three terms as a member of the Colby School Board and is currently on the Colby City Council and acts as the current sitting council president. Additionally, he is the acting chairman of Colby’s city planning committee and president of the Colby/Abbotsford Police Commission board.
Connections to the school do not end with his time on the school board, as Todd serves on the IDEA Education Foundation of Colby as its current president. He has also been a referee for WIAA sporting events for five decades. Both keep him connected to the school district even after his time on the board concluded and his children had graduated.
Kelly has volunteered her time towards a number of community-focused groups and events. She works as a volunteer for the annual Abbotsford Christmas Parade and supports the Friends of the Colby Community Library and the Clark County Community.
On top of the lengthy list of volunteer efforts and public service positions, they also find the time to run Embroidery Express, a business that they are co-owners of and that they run out of their home.
While the Schmidts may have busy schedules, they noted that getting out into the community and doing their part is important both to the communities and to themselves.
“We strongly believe that getting involved in and supporting the community is vital,” they noted over email. “It keeps us motivated to do meaningful things to make the region a better place to live for everyone. Community service is a very important example for our children and grandchildren.”
POWER COUPLE - Kelly and Todd Schmidt, left, receive their Community Service Award from Ryan Bargender, superintendent of Abbotsford Schools and member of the AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN O’BRIEN
