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 The banking center is located at 710 Woodlawn Road
in the location that was once known as Bob’s Roast Beef. The bank is
a full service branch of the Tremont Bank offering a large walk-in
area for banking as well as a drive up window on the west side for
customer convenience.
The evening began with a gathering of people behind the ribbon for
the cut. Those who were asked to be front and center included Bank
President and CEO June Kidd, Regional Vice President Tyler Hodge.
Staff at the new Lincoln Banking Center including Annie Coers,
Jennifer Holliday, Bethany Murphy, Diana Wagner, Lindsey Guy, Morgan
Hauser and Allena Benninger were behind the ribbon. Lincoln Aldermen
Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Steve Parrott and Kevin Bateman, Lincoln City
Clerk Peggy Bateman, 2022 Little Miss Logan County Fair Luci Bobell
were included along with Bank Board of Directors Connie Boyle, Dr.
John Baer, Ric Brenneman, Ken Gibson, Dr. Brock Butts, Rod Conklin
and former Board Chair Jim Sommer. Holding the ribbon was Logan
County Tourism Bureau Director Alice Roate and Karen Hargis with
Lincoln Daily News.
After a quick welcome to guests and a thank you to the Tremont Bank
for their investment in the Lincoln Community, emcee Nila Smith with
the LDN ribbon cutters turned the evening over to President Kidd.
Kidd began by introducing herself and talking about her family
history with the community of Lincoln. Born in Lincoln, she is the
daughter of Jim and Joan Shelley. She grew up in Lincoln and has
been a part of the community for many years. She currently lives in
Lincoln with her husband Dr. Robert Kidd. She mentioned her
children, who also grew up in the area, and talked about her
connection to Lincoln High School as a Railer alum and a Railer
parent.
She thanked many people who were involved in the development of the
vision and the physical construction of the bank. Among those
mentioned were the architect for the new building, the construction
crews including the general contractor and the many subcontractors.
She thanked local businesses Schneider Masonry and Bee’s Landscaping
for the exterior finishes and the landscaping.
She thanked her son Justin Harnacke for creating the wood logo art
hanging in the lobby as well as Todd and Georgia Lohman who donated
the local art in the conference room.
She went on to thank Windy Acres BBQ by Kevin and Peggy Bateman, who
would be serving food after the ribbon cutting.
She acknowledged the board of directors with special attention to
the former Chairman of the Board Jim Sommer saying he had supported
and motivated them to keep moving on this project for the past year.
She also noted it was Sommers birthday and wished him well.
Kidd went on to thank a large number of other people including
customers, vendors, legal advisors and many more. She acknowledged
the dedicated staff of not only the Lincoln Banking Center but in
all the branch locations who supported the development of the new
branch and did what they were able to do to assist.
She added a thank you to Regional Vice-President Tyler Hodge and
said that the vision for Lincoln Bank began with a conversation
between Hodge and Kidd at a Railer Football game nine years ago.
Making that vision a reality was a big move and she told Hodge,
“I’ve thrown a lot at you in a very short amount of time and you
continuously live up to the challenge.”
With that Kidd turned the floor over to Hodge. He began by
introducing himself and noting as Regional Vice President he is the
overseer of the Logan County branches including New Holland and
Lincoln. He said he wanted to begin by thanking his staff at both
branches and saying though he might be biased, he feels he has the
best staff anyone could hope to have at both banks.
He noted that in the last two years life has been quite hectic with
the construction and grand opening of the New Holland Banking Center
approximately one year ago in the fall of 2021 and now the opening
of the Lincoln branch in the fall of 2022. He too acknowledged the
staff from all the branches noting that in the time leading up to
the opening those staff had taken on extra work loads and had done
so graciously.
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He thanked Kidd for her strong leadership and support.
He talked about the customer base for the two Logan County banks
saying that over the last few years, New Holland customers had
expressed a desire to see a branch in Lincoln. He noted customers
said they wanted to bank in Lincoln and not drive to New Holland and
the corporation had listened.
He noted the New Holland branch has been open for several years, but
in a location that lacked the convenience of a drive up window for
customers. When the company had the opportunity to purchase the
building site right on Illinois Route 10 in New Holland it opened a
door for better service and convenience for the customers. It also
opened the door for the bank to donate to the village of New Holland
its former location.
Hodge said the successful opening of the new location
in New Holland had led many more people to express a desire to see a
similar bank come to Lincoln. He said when the two lots in Lincoln
became available, it was ideal and the vision quickly became a
reality.
Hodge concluded saying after the cut he hoped everyone would stay
and take a tour of the new bank and enjoy some food. He concluded,
“Although we won’t be serving any Bob’s Roast Beef, we do plan on
striving to provide the best service we can.”
The last person to speak before the snipping of the ribbon was Mayor
Pro Tem Kevin Bateman filling in for Mayor Tracy Welch, who had a
previous obligation.
Bateman said he would be quite brief. He noted the bank had taken
another empty lot in Lincoln and turned it into something beautiful
and a new source of pride for the community. He thanked the Tremont
Bank for its commitment to the community and wished them well.
With the speeches concluded, Hodge was given the scissor for the
posed picture and then the crowd assisted with the count down to the
cut.
When the cut was completed, everyone was invited to tour the
building, get acquainted with staff, and enjoy food by Windy Acres.
The food included smoked pork and chicken along with baked beans and
chips. Guests could take a plate to enjoy immediately or grab a
to-go box to take home.
Inside the bank, guests toured the lobby and checked out the
individual offices and conference room area of the bank. The layout
for the Lincoln branch is almost identical to the layout at New
Holland except it is flipped. Customers will enter the front door
and go to their left for the tellers or to the right for
personalized services.
For drive thru services, customers will enter on the east side of
the building and drive around the back to the west side for the
teller window.
The Grand Opening celebration continued on Friday with an open house
for the public and food served during the lunch hour.
[Nila Smith]
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