President, Orien Hodges is a 1967 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accounting. He has spent much of his business life in owning and managing his own business and is currently the general manager of Country Classics Christmas Store in Walnut, Iowa. He is a member and a past officer of the Walnut Merchants Association, the Walnut Optimist Club, the Walnut Community Club where he received the Business and Professional Person of the Year award from the Community, a member of the Walnut Sign Committee and member of the Carson, Iowa Presbyterian Church. Married with two children and three stepchildren.

Several years ago he became interested in the development of a non-profit organization to help children. In 1998 and 1999 he took six courses in Fund-Raising Management and on December 9, 1999 received a Certificate in Fund-Raising Management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In 1999 he founded what is now known as Santa's Children Christmas Village, a non-profit organization to help terminally and seriously ill children and children in crisis. He is currently on the Board of Directors and is President of the organization.

Vice President, Janet Macdonald, age 37, is a mother of two and an entrepreneur. A native Nebraskan, Janet worked at the University of Nebraska at Omaha library as a Technical Assistant for ten years. Janet and her husband moved to Walnut, Iowa in 1995 to open the Owl House, a gift shop and tearoom. Recently, they purchased a restaurant called Aunt B's Kitchen in downtown Walnut. Janet has volunteered in the past with Campfire Girls, Girl Scouts and many other local organizations and is currently Vice President of Santa's Children.

Secretary, Nick Hoffmann, a 50-year-old German teacher in Walnut High School since 1975, has also edited and published The Walnut Bureau, a weekly newspaper in Walnut, since the spring of 1989. A lifetime resident of southwest Iowa, Hoffmann graduated from Atlantic High School and from Loras College with a BA in German and History and a teaching minor in English. Previous editing experience included his high school yearbook and college newspaper. Hoffmann is active in the community as president of the local library board, president of the Catholic church finance council, and member of the local Community Club and Optimist Club. Besides teaching at the high school, he coaches junior high football and basketball, is the contest speech coach and works with the school yearbook staff. He and his wife Barbara have three children, the oldest in Graduate School and the youngest a high school senior.

Treasurer, Gary Meidlinger. On May 2, 1994 Gary Meidinger and Michele Johnson established Prizm Inc. Their goal was to establish a company to produce collectible and gift products with the artwork and talents of Pipka. They met Gary Pool 2-1/2 years earlier and knew that with Gary and Michele's experience in the gift industry and Pipka's wonderful work that a new, unique line could be introduced to retail. Prizm Inc. is the exclusive gift company that handles Pipka's work.

In the spring of 1999 Pipka designed a wonderful new Father Christmas image, "The Carpenter Santa". Through a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of this design, Prizm Inc., along with Pipka, is helping to make Santa's Children Christmas Village a reality. Building a brighter future for tomorrow.

Sandy Sherman was elected to the Board of Directors on June 1, 2001. She is founder and President of Seaport Software. She has worked in the gift industry virtually all her life, beginning with her parent's shop in Southern California, and continuing with her own shop in Rhode Island. Seaport Software provides inventory and customer management programs to the gift and collectible industry. Sandy's commitment is to help support charities for children in need through the efforts of Seaport Software. Sandy lives in Connecticut with her husband and two dogs.

Jeff Devereaux is a native of San Francisco, California, but has spent most of his life in Jefferson City, Missouri. With years of work in the fine arts combining his love for music, theater, dance, and art, his talents als carried him to radio, which is is career today. Currently employed by Clear Channel Communications, Jeff is an on-air broadcaster and performs many support duties with charities and fund raisers. He has worked with numerous local, state, and federal agencies, serving as a host, master of ceremonies, program coordinator, and more. Jeff spent two years with Radio Disney as their Promotions Director and talent scout.

Jeff has worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the American Heart Association, Prevent Blindness Nebraska, the Salvation Army, the Open Door Mission, the Food Bank, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Multiple Sclerosis, Chidren's Hospital, St. Jude's Hospital, and many more organizations. He is serving on the board of Santa's Children Christmas Village and is Chairperson for "Get In The Game," a Clear Channel Communications sponsored committee to assist non-profit organizations in Iowa and Nebraska.

Susan Achenbach Susan Achenbach graduated from Carson-Macedonia High School, Carson, IA, in May 1966, and immediately began attending Commercial Extension School of Commerce in Omaha, NE, graduating in December 1966. She has lived in Iowa, Nebraska, Virginia, Texas, and Germany. She has worked at an insurance company and at a community action agency, and is currently employed for over 23 years at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak, IA. She serves as the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer.

Dale Willenborg was born in 1952 and grew up in Manning, Iowa. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1973 with a BS degree in Computer Science and Math and in 1976 with an MS in Computer Science. He also received a Master of Computer Systems Management degree from Creighton University in 1996. Dale married his wife Dianne in 1979 and they have three children and three grandchildren.

Dale has worked for the MITRE Corporation, a federally funded research and development corporation, since 1983 and works at Offutt AFB, NE. He is vice-president of the Treynor Optimist Club, a volunteer at the Council Bluffs Family History library, and active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts and a Bishop in his church.

Joanne Nathem is a native Iowan, having been born in Waterloo. She is the third of four daughters all with a very diverse personality. She has been a nurse since 1976 and have worked in a total of four hospitals. Joanne attended nursing school and worked for twenty years at one of the hospitals in Waterloo. She initially graduated nursing school with a diploma and continued her education and received both her bachelors and masters degree from the University of Dubuque. She has also completed half of the credits towards an MBA. Her nursing career has included both staff nursing and management. In addition to working in the hospital in Waterloo, she has worked in Montana and Michigan. She has been the Chief Nurse Executive for the past nine years at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak.

Joanne has diverse interests. She is a pilot, has raced cars, loves to read and spend time with the family, and likes to work with machines--mostly take them apart and rebuild them. She find working with Santa's Children rewarding because of its mission of helping children in need. W orking in the health care arena, she has seen many children in distress that appreciate even "little things."