Politics, Elections and Pandemics, OH MY!

Politics, elections and pandemics, oh my! That’s kind of my take on the past several months and a less than articulate comparative reference to Dorothy’s infamous “lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my” quote from the Wizard of Oz. But just as those beasts struck fear in the hearts of Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow as they skipped through the forest in that iconic 1939 film, today’s unknowns of a yet-to-be resolved pandemic, a new administration and an unknown US Senate makeup (the Georgia runoffs are at least one reminder that the election isn’t really over) have left us modern day citizens a bit skittish about what’s ahead of us.

While it might not be a great career move for someone whose job it is to advocate for a tremendous community banking organization, I promised myself I wasn’t going to drone on about politics, the recent election and certainly not the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in this message. We’ve all had enough. I know I’ve had enough. A wise friend of mine asked me a few days ago if I could recall having recent conversations that didn’t involve politics or the pandemic. I couldn’t except for Stacey telling me that the dogs were tangled around the tree again. But I don’t think those count as “conversations” so I excluded them for the purposes of the exercise at hand.

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So, I thought I would discuss how the community bankers of our state went above and beyond this past year to help their friends, neighbors, customers and communities get through this very difficult time. The ICBND member bank response to the Paycheck Protection Program and all its trips and hiccups was amazing, but not totally unexpected. You’ve been there before for your communities and you will be there again. So, as I was gathering my thoughts for this voluminous message, I received your ICBND Chairman Chad Aberle’s message for this newsletter. I won’t say he stole my thunder because that wouldn’t be fair. His prose was much more eloquent and articulate than anything I was going to muster, so I will save you some reading time.

It’s been a goofy year. Please take time now to relax a bit, safely enjoy your family this holiday season and be proud of what you accomplished this year. You deserve it. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you all.

Barry