News

June 2008:  Austin Chamber of Commerce:

Discovery! Training Comes to Austin

Non-profit organization expects to make an impact on local residents

Discovery! has rolled into town with the anticipation of making a difference in the community by reaching out to its local, and even not so local residents. This is in response to a growing need for life changing opportunities in the Austin area. David Dachner of Lakeway and Bob Posey of Austin have served the Dallas branch of the organization as facilitators over the past 10 years and after two years of planning, have teamed together to bring local residents a chance to experience what thousands of others already have.

Discovery! Austin is a dynamic 3-part training that takes its participants on a personal journey, helping to turn dreams into reality using finely tuned exercises.  “Discovery! is a uniquely powerful process that uncovers the specific things that keep us stalled on the road of life” and “gives you the opportunity to take the next step and set yourself on the path to productive living.” “The key to success is causing people to discover their own answers. Furthermore, we help others help themselves,” says Dachner.

Trainees complete the training with a sense of purpose, passion, and a desire to “pay it forward.” They walk away with tools for successful living that can be used in their personal, professional and/or spiritual life. Discovery! is not only intended to impact the individuals who attend, but promises to positively impact the community. July 11 through the 13, 2008 Discovery! Austin opens its doors to the community during its first training weekend at the Airport Hilton Hotel. Five trainings are scheduled at the Hilton Hotel before the end of the year, including two trainings specifically for Alumni. For more information visit www.discovery-training.com, call 512.276.8976 or email austininfo@discovery-training.com.

About Discovery!
Founded in 1998 by Fred Lowder and Brett Stalcup, Discovery! was created to provide a balanced approach to enhancing people’s lives. Fred’s collaboration and partnership with Dr. Phil and Dr. Joe McGraw’s group training workshops in the mid 1980’s helped lay the foundation for what is now Discovery! David Dachner, President of Amarado Oil Company, Ltd. And Bob Posey, President of Gearench, are the operators and facilitators of Discovery! in Austin, which gets its roots from the like-named Discovery! Training based in Dallas. Discovery! is an assumed business name and operated solely by the Abundant Life Foundation (ALF), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.

July 23, 2008:  Tyler County Booster:

Team City Tyler County hears update on proposed ‘Family Activity Center’

Team City Tyler County heard a presentation last week from Woodville Police Chief Scott Yosko on a proposed Family Activity Center that has been a long-running project of the committee he was representing. The project received support last year from an oil company president who offered seed money along with his support.

Oil Company President David Dachner and his wife Brenda came to the area a couple of year ago with a heartfelt mission, according to Dachner, to “bless Woodville as Woodville has blessed us.” Dachner and his company have been part of developing the oil and gas fields in and around Tyler County.

Yosko showed Team City members some preliminary drawings of how the facility might look, emphasizing that these drawing were ideas and could be expanded or modified along the way.

“Dachner had several projects in mind for Tyler County, but his main project was to build a recreational center,” Yosko said. Dachner has several criteria for such a facility. He wanted it available for everyone, affordable for everyone to utilize, and accessible to everyone regardless of physical limitations. He also thought it important, Yosko explained, to have it built “kind of like a barn raising where the whole community gets involved in one focused project.”

Yosko said that the committee visited several centers around the state with similar facilities to the proposed Tyler County facility and picked up some ideas there. “We finally came up with an idea of what we want to build for the county,” he said.
“The more we looked into it, the more we realized we needed something for more than just the kids. We wanted something for the entire family, where the families would utilize the facility as a unit,” Yosko said. “And we decided that if we are going to dream, we’re going to dream big.”

Dachner has pledged $500,000 minimum to the project according to Yosko, and has a philanthropic organization that give money. He also has contacts with other oil companies, grant writers and other granting entities that are willing to share in the cost of the project.

“Everyone thinks of us as a small town, so we build like a small town,” Yosko said, but noted that the reality is that Woodville is growing, and businesses here, some recently constructed, are already having to look at expansion. “This facility has the potential to not only be a direct benefit to Tyler County, but could also be an economic development platform to attract people from other counties.”

Yosko said the committee was looking at building bowling lanes (16 lanes is proposed), handball and racketball courts, a couple of basketball and volleyball courts, a skateboard area, a swimming pool, classrooms for the kids for after hours, and an indoor walking track.

“We want something the kids can go to after school, and have somewhere the parents can take them to after hours as well,” he added. There would also be spaces leased out to fitness facilities, food service facilities, etc.

“One of the things we heard repeatedly from the facilities that we visited was that they had built them too small and wished they had built them larger to begin with,” Yosko said in explaining why the committee wanted to build such a large facility in Woodville.
Dachner wants to ultimately donate this facility, once it is operational and paid for, to someone like the city or county. “Once the facility is paid for, operational costs should be covered by money made off leases and the bowling lanes,” Yosko said.
Yosko said that the facility would occupy almost two acres in enclosed space. The two story structure would be very large, to accomadate the many activities planned.

Yosko acknowledges that a Family Activity Center is a huge project but believes that if the entire county can be behind it, it can be accomplished. He pointed to successes with the hospital, police department, etc. to show what can happen when enough people become interested.

The plan now is to bring David Dachner to Woodville in August for the next Team City Tyler County meeting, and to perhaps provide a venue where he can address Tyler County residents directly. The next Team City Tyler County meeting is August 20.

August 20, 2008:  Tyler County Booster

Two meetings to be held Aug. 20 to discuss proposed Tyler County Activity Center

Amarado Oil Company President David Dachner and his wife Brenda will be present at two meetings Wednesday, August 20, in Woodville to talk about his dream to provide a family activity facility for Tyler County.

Dachner will first attend the Team City Tyler County meeting that starts at 12 noon in the Colmesneil Community Center. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend.

If you can’t make the Team City meeting, the community will have another opportunity to meet Dachner and hear about his dream at 6 p.m. at Woodville United Methodist Church, located at 508 West Bluff in Woodville.

Community input is essentially in developing ideas for a fun, safe, activity center for all ages in Tyler County.

Current ideas include bowling, swimming pool, handball/racquet ball court, snack bar, basketball/volleyball, rock climbing wall, weight/fitness facility, indoor walking track, large meeting rooms, WI-FI and more.

For more information contact Scott Yosko at (409) 200-0136, or leave comments at: tylercountylifecenter@yahoo.com.

August 27, 2008:  Tyler County Booster

‘A Vision for Tyler County’

Few would disagree that a pressing need in Tyler County is more entertainment and activities for our young people. Providing these activities could have a direct benefit, according to Woodville Police Chief Scott Yosko, in helping reduce these problems by giving the young people positive alternaties to destructive behavior. Providing those opportunities, though, are a real challenge in a rural community.

Into this challenge has come a hopeful direction from an unlikely source, an oil company president who says God gave him a vision for Tyler County, and he has committed $500,000 to help make it real.

“Two, two and a half years or so ago,” Amarado Oil Company President David Dachner told Team City Tyler County members last week, “I spent some good quiet time and I felt the call of God talking to me and I thought, ‘you know, I have been prospered in this area, and it’s not about me, why would I have received such prosperity?’” Dachner’s company has been instrumental in developing the oil and gas fields in Tyler County. He concluded that he had received the prosperity because God wanted to give him a gift and wants him to pass that gift on.

“So, God said, you know, I want you to go to Woodville and see how you can bless that community,” Dachner said. “When I came into Woodville, I knew it was going to be a long term mission, but I didn’t know exactly what it was about.” He then spent time here getting to know the people, learning “what the community was about.”

Dachner said the core issues he saw the community dealing with included economic issues, providing safety from the drug and alcohol issues facing the young people and protecting the hyouth from those influences.

“These are foundational things that are a huge issue and not unusual for any rural community,” he said. The advantage of living in a small community,. Though, is that it is much easier to find solutions than in large, urban areas.

“Because of this, you have the ability from this day forth to change the whole complexion of your community.” And one way that might can happen, according the Dachner, is by creating a “Life Center.”

“I call it a life center because the building…is about bringing life back to the community,” he explained. “A place where people can find peace and fun and joy and togetherness, a focal point where the community can come together.”

“So we creaeted this idea and named it “A New Day” and the idea of a life center is something we came up with.” He said that the life center would accomplish multiple goals, including giving the young people some healthy activities and educational opportunities.

Dachner said that his only requirements for the building were that it had to be there for everyone, that everyone in the community be involved in the project, that it have a good business plan to sustain it and that the city and surrounding area will support it.
He explained, though, that beyond money and resources, he wanted to leave more than money with the community.

“I’m not coming here to bring a golden cow,” he said. “My goal is to help people help themselves…that’s how people grow, learn and take ownership.”

A local committee has been working on ideas for such a project over the last couple of years and, as a result of Dachner’s visit, will expand its membership, creating a steering committee to initiate a feasibility study to determine exactly what is needed in such a facility, what level of utilization that can be expected, and if it can be economically sustained by the community. The primary interest is that the entire Tyler County community be involved in some way with the project and the committee solicits input from anyone who is interested.

For more information or to become more involved in the planned Life enter, call Scott Yosko at (409) 200-0136 or email tylercountylifecenter@yahoo.com.