With St. Patrick’s Day closing out this week, we thought it would be fun to look back at North Shore Bank employees’ many years of shenanigans — a word long associated with the Irish, though its specific origins are obscure.* (These are, of course, shenanigans in the lighthearted sense — “high-spirited or mischievous activities,” as Merriam-Webster puts it, as opposed to “devious tricks” or “questionable practices or conduct.”)

Some of our employees went all out with the wearing of the green for St. Patrick’s Day in 2002.

And even just the hats were pretty great.

For April Fools’ Day 2014, Grafton employees filled the personal banker’s office with stuffed animals and business banker’s with balloons.

The North Region branch managers went all out for the 2001 sales kickoff, gearing up as astronauts in homage to, of course, science-fiction classic 2001.

Corporate’s Office Olympics in 2019 included a shirt exchange competition, which involved some twisting and turning for participants.

Our 2016 fundraiser for the United Performing Arts Fund featured activities like plate-spinning and a “farm animal race,” as well as a cream puff eating contest.

Tricia Cravillion rocked the limbo at this event in 2001.

And before he retired in 2018, facilities and services manager Bob Effinger was a regular source of amusement at Corporate events, whether he was appearing as Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at the 2014 Holiday Round Robin…

…or popping up at Shredding Day in 2013.

*The word shenanigan first appeared in print in the mid-19th century and possibly derived from the Gaelic sionnachuighim, meaning “I play the fox.” But etymologists say it could also have come from a shortened form of the Spanish charranada, which means “a dirty trick”; the German slang word Schenigelei, which also means “a trick”; or the East Anglian word nannicking, meaning “playing the fool.” Because shenanigan seems to have popped up during the California gold rush, which drew immigrants of all of those nationalities and many more, there’s just no way to be sure.

Of course, this is just a sampling of the fun shenanigans that have gone here. Got any good photos from a past North Shore Bank event? Send them to shorelines@northshorebank.com or use the submissions form.