Duane Bavlnka retires, leaving a legacy of excellence
Duane Bavlnka, our vice president for compliance, retires next Tuesday, August 1, after over four decades at North Shore Bank. (He started on July 7, 1975.) During that time, Duane has served in multiple roles here — as a branch manager, deposit operations manager, and vice president for loan processing and servicing, as well as his current title.
He spoke with Shorelines about his career and plans for life after banking, offering advice to those just entering the industry: “Always do your best, whether performing a menial task or completing a major project. Keep learning. Be curious. Have fun at what you do.” Read more about Duane’s past and future!
Vote for NSB in the ABA Marketing Video Awards
A still from our video, which features North Shore Bank customers.
We’re proud to announce that North Shore Bank is among the 24 finalists in the ABA Bank Marketing Video Awards! To claim the top spot for our asset size ($1 billion to $5 billion), the bank needs your help.
On your smartphone or home computer, please visit ababankmarketing.com/contest and cast your vote for our video by this Monday, July 31.
Our video is listed under the “$1 Billion – $5 Billion” heading and titled “Buying a Home? What to look for in a mortgage loan.” The voting button is underneath the video.
You can vote only once, so please share this request with your friends and family as well! To make sharing easy, find our posts about the contest on the bank’s Facebook and Twitter pages, or our other social media.
If you have questions, please contact Kate Knox, AVP of marketing communications, at kknox@northshorebank.com. Now get over to the ABA site and vote! Thanks for your support. •••
Northland plugs video tellers, washes windows
Teller Nate Scheuers gets to work making a customer’s day brighter.
The Appleton Northland branch offered free window washing to customers who took advantage of the location’s drive-up video teller machine on Wednesdays in July. “It gave us a chance to spread awareness about the video tellers and to have some fun conversations with customers, too,” branch manager Heather Starr said. •••
Racine employees support Big Brothers Big Sisters
Regency personal banker Ashley Singstock, Westgate personal banker Danielle Lopez, Westgate teller Patti Jardina, and area manager Lisa Brooks attended the benefit.
North Shore Bank personnel from our Racine offices showed up for “An Evening With Big Brothers Big Sisters” on July 13 to help celebrate the nonprofit group and its contributions to the community. The bank donated a Racine Zoo package for the silent auction, and employees enjoyed the event, which included presentations of awards for Big Brother, Big Sister, and Big Couple of the Year. •••
Brookfield patriots celebrate USA in parade
The Brookfield parade team: Sue, Cheri, Garrett (as Seymour), Margie, and Jay, along with family members.
North Shore Bank employees took part in Brookfield’s Fourth of July parade, riding in the procession and dispensing treats to celebrate the nation’s birthday.
President and COO Jay McKenna volunteered his convertible for the day, which the team decorated in keeping with the parade’s “America the Beautiful” theme.
“There was plenty of red, white, and blue, along with some stars floating around on the car,” Brookfield Square branch manager Margie Brusa reported. She said most of the 8,000 to 10,000 spectators were children. “We handed out candy and some color-changing straws that were a HUGE hit with our audience.”
Sue’s dog Eva, doing her part to promote the bank.
Participating employees included Margie (along with husband Guido and grandson Matteo), Jay (with wife Lisa, sons Christopher and Patrick, and the family’s foreign-exchange student from Ireland), business relationship manager Cheri Cicona-Trudell (with granddaughter Ariel), and SVP Sue Doyle. Garrett Wilderman, son of marketing VP Kevin Wilderman, was Seymour Savings. •••
North Shore Shape Up: Genes and Alzheimer’s
If you have a close family member who has suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, it’s understandable you’d be concerned about your own risk of being diagnosed with it. But experts from Harvard Medical School advise you not to worry just because a relative is afflicted.
“People think that if their dad or aunt or uncle had Alzheimer’s disease, they are doomed. But, no, that’s not true,” says Dr. Gad Marshall, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. “Even though family history adds to the overall risk, age still usually trumps it quite a bit. It means your risk is higher, but it’s not that much higher, if you consider the absolute numbers.”
Dr. Marshall adds that genetic testing is almost never a useful option for people worried about Alzheimer’s: “It’s not going to be helpful, since it won’t tell you whether you will develop the disease. It will only tell you if you are at a greater or lower risk.”
For more information about the relationship between Alzheimer’s and genes, as well as guidelines on what to do if someone in your family is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you can download the whole Harvard blog post to read as a PDF. •••
Upcoming Events
North Shore Bank’s Taste of Lake Country 2017 takes place tomorrow, Friday, July 28, and this Saturday, July 29. Enjoy food from 17 Lake Country restaurants, and the sights and sounds of Pewaukee’s beachfront during this free annual summertime event. More upcoming events here.
Internal Job Postings •••
- Customer Assistance Rep, CSC, full time, 40 hours/week. Referral bonus: $400. Internal closing date: Ongoing.
For a complete list of internal job postings and to apply for one, go to nsbcareersforyou.silkroad.com and click on “Internal Openings” at the top. To refer an external person to an opening, go to our intranet page. You can earn cash and prizes for a successful referral!