In my recent look at FDIC insurance guidelines, I closed that post by lamenting the disappearance of friendly local bankers, epitomized in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Today, however, I learned that a George Bailey clone does indeed exist in Easton, Md.
Ron Lieber, in the New York Times‘ Your Money column, found R. Michael S. Menzies, president of Easton Bank & Trust.
The financial institution is a community bank with lots of old-fashioned touches. And Menzies, writes Lieber, is "a banker out of central casting with a firm handshake, perfectly parted hair, a gray pinstripe suit and black wingtip shoes."
In addition to introducing us to Menzies, Lieber’s article, Honor Your Word, or This Banker May Call Mom, elaborates on the differences between community banks and the mega and/or Internet lending institutions.
Sometimes, it seems, it definitely is better to, if you’ll pardon my mixed movie metaphor, go back to the future.
And all us fans of classic film and sane financial practices are delighted that the spirit of Bailey Building and Loan lives on!
Photo of Caribou, Me., bank (c. 1922) courtesy of
Maine Memory Network and Nylander Museum.
