In 40 years, Corporate has been home to robust growth

Last month, the Corporate building turned 40. “April 21, 1982 was the grand opening of the branch office,” recalls senior ACH specialist Nancy Adamski, who was one of the first employees at the Brookfield Square branch when it made its debut. “I remember because it was very close to my one-year wedding anniversary!” Listen to what she and others have to say, and see some cool photos of the construction.

Ice cream, rock party go down as smashing success

The Corporate Community Outreach Committee returned for some stone-cold fun last Wednesday, May 18, with free ice cream for employees and the chance to decorate kindness rocks in the 4th Floor Cafe. The event celebrated North Shore Bank’s tenth year being named a Top Workplace by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Adorned with bright acrylic colors and positive slogans, the kindness rocks will bring cheer as part of the new “Be Kind” rock garden at the North End branch. Employees were also invited to leave out in the community for others to discover and enjoy.

The ice cream truck from Board Together in Muskego parked outside the building’s back delivery door. Employees could step out and choose a treat, and the frozen delicacies garnered rave reviews.

“The ice cream was awesome. People were thrilled to find out they were getting ‘real’ ice cream — we had eight flavors to choose from!” mail services supervisor Colleen Moore said. She added that she was impressed by how employees decorated their rocks. “We have very talented people here. A lot of them said ‘I am not an artist,’ but you wouldn’t have known it after they finished their rocks. I can’t wait to see where these little works of art end up in the community!” •••

Weber serves as panelist for Shorewood Passages

Shorewood area branch manager Shannon Weber recently served on the panel for this year’s Shorewood Passages program. The program — a rite of passage for children entering middle school — gives students the opportunity to reflect on how they’ve grown academically, socially, and emotionally during elementary school.

Students prepare presentations for a panel of adults including a district administrator, teacher, and community member. Parents and other family are welcome to watch as well. After each presentation, the panelists get to ask questions and offer feedback to the students.

“The students really put a lot of work in to their presentations,” Shannon said. “It was so great to see and hear how they had developed and grown over the years. And having the parents there to experience their children’s presentations — you could just see how proud they were. I really appreciated and feel very fortunate to have been selected to be a part of this process.” •••

Bank giving away tickets to Breakfast with Giraffes
Breakfast with the Giraffes at the Racine Zoo is sold out, but we still have a set of four tickets to give away to this fun event. Our customers and other members of the public can enter by liking, sharing, and following posts on social media.

Featuring a menu from Red Onion Cafe, the event will take place June 11, as part of the zoo’s World Giraffe Day celebration, sponsored by North Shore Bank. Along with the meal, there will be a giraffe presentation followed by an encounter with the long-necked beauties. The zoo will also offer educational activities, crafts, and other fun that day as part of the Zoorific Saturday program.

For a chance to win tickets, customers can check our Facebook page for the link to enter the contest. They’ll be entered one or more times each time they follow or like North Shore Bank and the Racine Zoo on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The contest ends Thursday, June 2. •••

Open a student checking account and get a $50 bonus

With seniors graduating and teens starting summer jobs, it’s a good time to talk to your customers about our student checking accounts — especially with a $50 bonus for opening an account! There’s no monthly service fee or minimum balance requirement, giving kids a chance to learn how a checking account works, start budgeting, and think about saving for the future.

They’ll also get a debit card and access to Zelle and Online and Mobile Banking. A parent or guardian is required to be a joint accountholder for minors under the age of 17½.

You and your customers can see more information here, including links and resources on financial literacy. •••

It takes work to pierce the fog of daily life

We often live in a kind of mental fog, a narrowing of the scope of our concerns, until we can see only the most pressing matters, the small confines of our immediate experience. The universe around us beckons, but we struggle to see and hear it through the glare and noise of civilization. We must work to keep our eyes and ears open, to see beyond the glare and hear beyond the noise.

Try this meditation for one minute today, or longer if you wish:

STOP, take a breath, and be thankful for all you have, the things that are going well in your life. Be completely unguarded with your heart, if just for a few moments.

Consider our difficulties in the context of the unimaginable scale of the
Creation. There is the Milky Way with its 300,000 million stars … Consider, too, the wonder of nature: the 229 separate and distinct muscles in the head of a caterpillar. This world in which we find ourselves is an unimaginable mystery, to which we can only respond with awe and a sense of worshipful attention.
—John Lane, artist and writer

How did this meditation go for you? Share your experience with your fellow North Shore Bank employees at shorelines@northshorebank.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana.

If you’d like a daily email reminder to practice one minute of mindfulness, email us with the subject “Mindfulness reminder.” •••

New Hires for May 26
It’s always exciting to add new members to our team. Here are some of the fresh faces at North Shore Bank.

Mortgage loan originator Michele Cope is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona. She moved to Appleton five years ago. She has worked in real estate for over 20 years as a national commercial/residential escrow officer, vice president of escrow, and most recently as a a Realtor. “I absolutely love a good mystery novel with a cup of tea!” she says. “One mystery I solved about myself is that I really do love writing — I wrote my first published book in eight hours! My current cozy mystery novel has stumped me, but don’t worry, I’m going to get it figured out and will be back to start the next case soon.” •••

Baseball fans can win up to $100 at Kingfish game
Looking for something to do? Here are suggestions from the bank’s event calendar.

North Shore Bank’s Hot Dog Hundo Night with the Kenosha Kingfish will be this Tuesday, May 31, at Historic Simmons Field. Come out to watch the Northwoods League baseball team take on the Kalamazoo Growlers and order a hot dog — fans will find money wrapped around the first 250 purchased at the Festival Foods Grill and Festivals Foods Corner concession stands. And one lucky attendee will end up with a $100 bill! More info here. •••