After she retires on Friday, Sturgeon Bay East teller Barbara Nelson hopes to trade handling bills and coins for panning for gold.

Barbara started at North Shore Bank when she and her husband moved to Sturgeon Bay in 2014. Before that, she had worked for eight years at First National Bank in Berlin. She began there as a teller and eventually become executive assistant to the bank’s president.

“I worked my way up!” she says. “It was wonderful — just a great job.”

At North Shore Bank, she enjoyed returning to her duties on the line, she says. “It worked out well. All I wanted to do was be a teller. I like working with people.”

But it’s time to move on, Barbara says. She doesn’t have a bunch of specific plans, but looks forward to having more leisure time. “I just want to be free to do whatever I want,” she says.

She and her husband, Rick, do plan to visit their three children who live in different states. And, Barbara says, one of her goals is to pan for gold. She’d like to try it in either Alaska or South Dakota’s Black Hills.

Barbara is grateful for the help and guidance she got from fellow teller Linda Wheaton. “I admire her,” Barbara says. “She’s been here 10 years or more. She’s so good at her job, and a kind and considerate worker.”

For those considering working at bank branch, Barbara has one piece of parting advice: “Be prepared to stand a lot!”