In Honor of those who have served, past and present
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There is now a Military Appreciation Room located within the First Bank office in Chinook. Picture above, left to right are Theresa Zarn, Doug Mosser, standing next to a photo of his Dad Norman and Jessica Aberg, holding a photo of her grandmother Gladys Burkhartsmeyer. Theresa and First Bank President Craig Lowham come up with the idea to use space available in the building to pay tribute to our veterans, past and present. Through discussion the pair contacted Jean Kokkeler about the display she had in her bakery several years ago. Jean was on board and loaned her collection to the room
This Friday we celebrate Veterans Day, a day set aside in the early 1900's as a way to pay tribute to our Veterans past and present. Craig Lowham, Bank President at the First Bank of Montana in Chinook and Theresa Zarn, Customer Service Representative at the bank came up with a way to honor our Veterans all year long.
The bank had a room adjacent to the main building entrance that has been little used over the years and was available for some type of display. Over the years the room has been used by various groups and organizations including Relay for Life, Parade of Lights and by the high school from time to time but never was used on a permanent basis.
"We tried to get groups to utilize the space, we offered its use to a number of different groups but never came up with a permanent solution," said Lowham.
Lowham and Zarn began discussing a number of ideas for sometime and Zarn came up with the idea of turning the space into a Military Appreciation room, "We wanted to do something to honor our local Veterans, past and present and we felt this would be a great way to do it," stated Zarn.
"We wanted to get the community involved in the project and began asking people to bring in pictures and items. Through conversation it was suggested that we get in touch with Jean Kokkeler regarding her collection that she had displayed in her bakery years ago," added Zarn.
Those who have been around Chinook for several years or traveled through and stopped for a bite to eat sometime ago certainly remember a nice place to dine with some top of the line gourmet food
First Bank Military Appreciation from a little establishment called Jean's Old Fashioned Bakery. Along the south wall of the Bakery, running the full length were photo's of local Veterans from all over the region.
Kokkelar had a beautiful display that was appreciated by those who dined in her restaurant. When she decided to close her bakery the display was no longer available to the public.
Zarn reached out to Kokkelar and she graciously loaned her entire collection to the project, "Right now we just have Jean's collection on display but we are reaching out to people encouraging them to bring photo's and memorabilia in to us," added Zarn.
"We'll be adding pictures as they come in," said Zarn. "We have ordered a number of 5x7 frames to accommodate them."
In addition to hanging more pictures on the wall the goal is to be able to display a number of different types of memorabilia, "The flag we have displayed is from Perry Miller. We are looking at adding shelving to hold more displays and we would like to get some enclosed cases to display smaller item's such as medals and ribbon's," concluded Zarn.
The communities involvement in the project is greatly encouraged, "The public is welcome to bring in items, as far as I'm concerned this is going to be a permanent thing," stated Lowham.
"People can donate items or just loan them to the display for a period of time," commented Lowham. "We'll have a log book to keep track of items when they are brought in and a record of who they belong to."
Currently on display are a large number of photo's of local veterans ranging from those who served in World War II all the way to those still serving actively.
"We want the public to feel welcome to come in sit down and view the display," said Lowham. The display is open anytime the Lobby is open and includes a large table and a few chairs for visitors to sit in. The Bank has refreshments in the lobby to make the experience even more enjoyable.
Stop by First Bank and check out the display its worth the visit.
