Luebke ends career as football ref with championship

For senior mortgage lender Steve Luebke, last Friday marked the end of an era, as he officiated his last high school football game — the Division 2 state championship at UW Madison’s Camp Randall Stadium.

“It was a very fortunate way to end my career,” he says, noting that the game was intense and that the frigid weather only added to the excitement. The Kettle Moraine Lasers took down the West De Pere Phantoms, 27-10.

Steve has been officiating football games for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association for over 25 years. He started officiating WIAA basketball games before that, in 1990, and still does that too. Read more about it now!

Employees share thanks for family, friends, co-workers
Here are a few more submissions from North Shore Bank employees sharing what they’re thankful for this year:

“I am thankful for my family,” says Northside branch manager Lisa Brooks. “My fiancé is endlessly supportive of me, and we have the most beautiful partnership. My son is a ray of sunshine in this life and reminds me not to take things too seriously and to laugh. Every day, I look at them and feel eternally gratefully I get to call them both mine.”

“I’m incredibly thankful for my family, friends, co-workers, and my improving health,” writes deposit operations rep Casey Kopacz. “I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis on New Year’s Eve last year. Thankfully, we caught it early enough and were able to reverse some of the damage that was done. I am forever thankful for my AMAZING support system, who helped me get through such a difficult time and continues to be there for me as I navigate this new lifelong journey. Special shout-out to Rosanne Pulvermacher and Lisa Gerwitz, who always went above and beyond to make sure I was doing OK and support me both when I was out on leave and back at Brookfield Capitol!”

And Burlington branch manager Robin Callis has lots to be thankful for — her three grandsons, for starters. “They are the light of my life!” she says. “They keep Nana and Papa young — always on the go and full of energy. Chase and Rhett live in Texas and when we visit, they keep us so busy! Harrison and his parents live with us, and he is always up to something new! His vocabulary is amazing, even if I don’t always understand him.”

Robin is also grateful for her sister and travel partner Dawn. “We have many of the same interests and really enjoy the trips we take together. She encourages me to try different things and pushes me outside of my comfort zone.”

At Shorelines, we’re thankful for everyone who shared with us this month, and we wish everyone at the bank a very happy Thanksgiving holiday! •••

Muskego’s Grode acts fast, moves bird to safety
Last week, a bird flew right into the drive-thru window at Muskego. “The impact was so loud, I screamed!” said community engagement manager Stephanie Ruiz, who witnessed the collision with teller supervisor Melissa Grode and universal banker Sara Speich.

“Mel was the big hero and went out to check on it,” Stephanie said. The bird was lying in the middle of the ATM lane, so Mel — who has her own pet bird, named Murphy — picked it up and placed it out of harm’s way in a basket, and then proceeded to check on it periodically. “After about 15 minutes, the bird gave her a ‘thank you’ look and flew away.” At least one bird is having a happy Thanksgiving, thanks to North Shore Bank! •••

Bank employees enjoy WWBIC luncheon

Seven North Shore Bank employees attended the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation’s 35th anniversary luncheon on Tuesday, November 15. Business customers Nancilyn and Craig of Muskego’s Board Together were also there at a booth in the Small Biz Market, which promoted local small businesses.

“There were some really good speakers. It was really nice to hear the stories of how some small businesses started out with the help of WWBIC,” Muskego community engagement manager Stephanie Ruiz said. •••

North District scores high with internal customers
This month, the North District invited internal customers to take the internal SOAR Together survey and rate their satisfaction with the service they’ve received from our branches. We received responses to the question “How easy was it to do business with the branch?” Ratings were on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 meant “Not easy to work with” and 7 meant “Very easy to work with.”

We are proud to announce that the North District scored 6.77 overall. The highest-scoring branches were Northland, with 6.88, and Green Bay East, with a 6.87. Kerri Collins has more — read it now!

Children’s Wisconsin campaign extended
We’re thrilled to announce that North Shore Bank is officially extending its give-back Bank on Kindness donation program for Children’s Wisconsin through Giving Tuesday! Through next Tuesday, November 29, donations can be made to support Children’s Wisconsin patients in and out of the hospital, in their own communities. All donations can be made through our community-focused website or by texting “Kindness” to 62641*, and North Shore Bank will be matching donations.

Individuals do not need to be North Shore Bank customers or Mastercard cardholders to donate — this is all part of our Bank on Kindness community give-back initiative. Throughout the year, the bank chooses different causes and related nonprofits to feature for donations.

*View Terms of Service. Message and data rates may apply. •••

Get $2,500 or more for retail and CSC job referrals
Know somebody worth hiring? Earn a $2,500 bonus by successfully referring someone for a job at North Shore Bank!

We have openings to fill in our branches and the Customer Support Center. You can earn an additional $500 (for a total bonus of $3,000) if the referral is bilingual in English and Spanish. To qualify for the bonus, you must currently be actively employed by North Shore Bank. All employees are eligible except senior executives, HR staff, and CSC managers if the referral is for a position they are responsible for. The referral must come in by Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

For your referral to qualify you for the bonus, the referred candidate must be hired and remain employed by North Shore Bank for 180 days, and both you and the candidate must be employed here on the payment disbursement date. The first half of the referral payment will be paid out after the new hire’s first 30 days, with the remaining funds paid out after the 180 days are up. Get more information about our job referral program here! —Janet Rosenthal, Talent Acquisition Manager •••

Candy Cane Lane, Wild Lights offer holiday fun
What’s going on with you? If you or someone in your family has a special event — a concert, show, sporting or charity event, or another important moment — send the details to shorelines@northshorebank.com. We’ll include information about select events to let your colleagues know about all the cool stuff happening with the North Shore Bank team.

Looking for more to do? Here are suggestions from the bank’s event calendar:

North Shore Bank Night kicks off 2022’s Candy Cane Lane in West Allis this Friday, November 25. The annual neighborhood holiday-lights display will raise money through Christmas Day to help the MACC Fund fight children’s cancer. Santa Claus will be there every night from December 6 to 23. Check out candycanelanewi.com for more information, including a calendar of appearances from other local groups.

For Wild Lights, the Milwaukee County Zoo transforms into an illuminated world with millions of sparkling lights and glowing animal displays throughout the month of December. Stroll on a tranquil yet festive one-mile path through the zoo’s very own snow globe to see a variety of shimmering large-scale animal displays. The event will not run on December 5, 6, 12, 13, 24, or 25. Tickets can be purchased here. The Cheers! event, presented by North Shore Bank, is an adults-only experience on December 8 and 9. More info on that here.

Family Free Day at the Milwaukee County Zoo will be Saturday, December 3. This monthly event is sponsored by North Shore Bank and Fox 6 and features free admission to the zoo for everyone! (Parking fees still apply.) The zoo is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More info here. •••