Community Connection Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R In our last newsletter I said I would continue with and complete talking about The Six Pillars or core values that the Josephson Institute of Ethics has developed as part of their “CHARACTER COUNTS!” program. If you remember from our last newsletter, the pillars are Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship, and the bold letters in caps create the acronym TRRFCC which is another way of saying that people with good character are “terrific”! I covered the first three pillars last time so I’ll cover the last three this time. Fairness is defined as: Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded; listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly. We hope you consider the service we provide to be fair and reasonable. We understand that a person’s financial dealings are important to them and we want to be fair with our customers when working with them on these matters. “CHARACTER COUNTS!” defines Caring as: Be kind • Be compassionate and show you care • Express gratitude • Forgive others • Help people in need. We have an opportunity to learn quite a bit about an individual’s personal situation when working with them on their financial matters. We do our best to be compassionate [Day] and help them in the best way we can. We also give back to the communities we serve and do what we can to help those in our communities who are in need. The last pillar is Citizenship. It is defined as: Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment. This last pillar says a lot. If we can all be good citizens, we can make our world a better place. We encourage our employees to get involved, and they do. As an organization, we also try to do what we can to be a good corporate citizen. Together, we can accomplish many things. We hope you have learned something from my review of the “CHARACTER COUNTS!” program. In today’s hectic world, many times we forget to consider our actions and how they may affect the world in which we live. It’s always good to slow down a bit and give some thought to what is and what isn’t important in our lives. And speaking of slowing down, I’m ready to do that. By the time this reaches your hands we will have loaded up our son’s stuff in Boulder, CO, unloaded it at our place, and reloaded it to move him to Ann Arbor, MI. We will have put on over 3,000 miles in the month of August alone just getting him from one place to the next! Jarad was accepted into the University of Michigan’s graduate program in architecture and design. Lucky for us, our daughter Carryn and her husband already live there so they can keep an eye on him, and we only need to travel to one place to visit a couple of our children! One last thing – if you haven’t checked out our Kasasa accounts, you owe it to yourself to do so. Stop in one of our offices, give us a call, or check things out at www.fmcommunity.com. Autumn 2 0 14 September October November Daniel M. Christianson Chief Executive Officer/Chairman of the Board [email protected] Preston 507-765-3823 • Chatfield 507-867-1605 • www.fmcommunity.com The Chatfield Branch Page 2 Firsts are Fun! I will always remember a lot of the “firsts” for my girls but there are definitely some that are more memorable than others like their first words, when they started walking, losing those baby teeth, and starting school. However, this summer there have been some additional ‘firsts’ that will be added to the scrapbook. This year was Myla’s first time to take a calf to the Fillmore County Open Class Dairy show. She was so excited - smiling and dancing in the ring - I was surprised the calf didn’t take off running. Summer of 2014 also marked the first Schwarz Family “Family Vacation”. (Some would not consider it a vacation when there are four 3 three-year-olds running around without their naps.) This vacation did involve [You] water. My father-in-law, Mike, hates the water. Since I have known Jason, I have never seen him close to water - unless it was in a glass and he was drinking it. For the first time ever, he put on his swim trunks and joined the grandkids on the Lazy River. Jacob’s daughter, Claire, was able to get her grandfather to do something no one would believe unless it was caught on camera. He went down a water slide, and yes, the picture is him at the bottom of the slide! I can be a little competitive so it was another “first” when Mike beat me playing bean bags – not once, but twice! I still have trouble admitting it. Of course, there was a friendly wager involved so I owed him money. I planned on paying, but wanted to make him work a little for it. I had Mara and Myla (giggling) take him a bowl of pennies and I am pretty sure that it was the first time he has ever been paid in pennies. He went right to the bank to have it counted - to make sure I did not short change him. He sometimes forgets what I do. Fun Summer Memories! This summer has gone way too fast and moving into September will be a struggle with getting back to school and the accompanying routines. I hope you all enjoyed the F & M cookout during Western Days. You donated $236.19 and Sunshine matched those funds for a total of $447.37 which was donated to Western Days. Mary Schwarz The Chatfield Branch staff and I want to introduce and have you welcome Misty Sass. She joined our team in June as a teller. Misty lives outside of Lanesboro and has three young boys. Be sure and greet her when you are in the bank. Vice President/Branch Manager Enjoy the Fall season! [email protected] Dairy Day Western Days Valleyland kids enjoy ice cream treats on Dairy Day at F & M. F & M Community Bank Page 3 Protect Your Personal & Financial Information By being vigilant about checking and protecting your personal and financial information you can greatly reduce the risk of fraud and identity theft. You have been informed by many sources to know the people you share information with, store and dispose of all personal statements and information securely, maintain appropriate security on your computer and other electronic devices, be responsible about the content you put on the social network sites and, when in doubt about an inquiry or solicitation you haven’t initiated, do not give out any information – especially social security numbers or bank account numbers. The fraudsters are always changing their tactics and methods enabling them to compromise your information and identity. Your best defense is to stay informed about what’s happening and the current trends. F & M Community Bank is committed to providing you with up-to-date information. To assist you, we have made the Bolt$ App available for free to download to your iPhone, Android or tablets. You will receive instant alerts for transactions over a preset amount, online telephone and mail order purchases. You will be able to check your account balances at anytime, anywhere for unauthorized activity. Go to the fmcommunity.com website for more information. BOLT$™ Experience peace of mind. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you’ll know what’s happening with your account. Aberg’s Acre New technology and rigid pollution standards have put an end to black smoke rising from a tractor when it was pulling hard. I remember many times opening the cab door on the 4640 and listening to the engine pull in the hills and watching some black smoke blow out of the exhaust. I can remember my neighbor telling me he couldn’t believe how cold it was one day and then he looked up and saw the smoke from his Oliver 880 diesel blocking out the sun. I remember the neighbors International 806 diesel plowing with a 6 bottom plow and the only interruption in smoke was when he turned on the end. I remember watching a son, father and grandfather on a JD 4320 when the smoke coming out was inversely proportional to the age of the driver. I can remember the smell of diesel smoke and that made me want to farm. The newer tractors have cabs that are very spacious and ride better than a Cadillac even over rough chisel plowing. The information available is terrific and they even can send messages to the implement dealer or the company if there is a problem. The trouble is as a farmer I [a] can’t fix anything on the tractor. If it throws out a code, I can look up what it is but only a technician can fix the problem. The 4440 gave you some idea what your speed was, how much fuel you had and water temperature. If you were losing power it was probably time to change fuel filters. If you were running too hot you cleaned out the radiator first and I could even change a stuck thermostat. The new transmissions want you to set them on automatic so they can automatically set the rpm’s and the gear to maximize fuel efficiency. On the older quad range transmissions we could choose between B1, B2 or C1 when operating in the field and we operated at full throttle. It was up to the operator to decide what gear to use in varying conditions. I can see empty on the road that the new transmissions are nice and conserve fuel. On the planter, I still set what gear I want to use to run 5 mph but I do use field cruise so I can come back to that speed every time. I’m sure there are 50 pages of things I can read to learn more about how to make my world easier while driving the tractor. Brian Aberg The new philosophy is to make it so anybody can drive the tractor, so maybe the inexperienced driver can do a straighter job of planting than somebody who has planted for 40 years because he is better with technology. I enjoy the new equipment and the ease of operation and willing to use the new technology but not quite ready to give complete control to it. Vice President/Ag Lender [email protected] My favorite time of the year is coming soon. Harvest time. Have a great and safe harvest and enjoy the autumn season. F & M Summit Club Page 4 Milestones are Important! Birthdays, graduations, and wedding anniversaries are some events we honor. The “firsts” are also documented – first day of school, first job, first home, and other important happenings in our lives. Mary shared some “firsts” that her family experienced this past summer in her article. Celebrating and remembering these milestones are important. At F & M Community Bank we celebrated the 100th Anniversary of ‘being your bank’ in 2011. Now, we [See] have reached another milestone – the Summit Club is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this month! Charter Members that have participated, traveled and enjoyed the benefits of this bank affinity group, along with the many members that have joined in through the years, are going to be honored at a festive evening on October 1st. It will be a time of food, fun and fellowship just as so many of the events and trips have been over the past twenty years. You should have received your invitations and this is a gentle reminder to make your reservations as we have limited seating for the meal. The anniversary event is ‘members only’ although friends and the community may [On] buy show tickets for the second part of the evening. The evening will have a Scandinavian flavor and influence from the special menu to the comedy and talent of the entertainment. You will be delightfully entertained. In August, the 2014 Mystery Trip was a perfect summer day-away. Morning coffee included homemade cinnamon rolls that were almost a meal. The mystery destination was Taylors Falls where the group embarked on a scenic, leisurely cruise on the beautiful St. Croix River and enjoyed a picnic style lunch. Following the cruise, the coach transported the group across the bridge to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, to the Festival Theatre for the presentation of Almost, Maine! The comedic vignettes were lighthearted and entertaining. The day concluded with a wine tasting and light refreshments at the Winehaven Vineyard in their new facility at Chisago City. The mystery was solved - another memorable day-away. There is still more fun to come… November 5th, a return to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre is planned for the presentation of Hello, Dolly! It is an easy day-away with minimal walking and an earlier return. The productions and luncheon at Chanhassen are always top-notch. Please note the reservation guidelines so this trip is a “go” and you are on the bus! The finale for this year will be a Country Christmas trip to Coloma, Wisconsin, with the highlight being a great meal and Holiday Variety Show – all in a rehabbed barn! There will be additional items included, but of course, Santa doesn’t tell everything! Surprises are what make the holidays fun! Again, please make your reservations in a timely manner so the elves can make all the necessary preparations! The annual F & M Holiday Open Houses will be held in December – watch for more information later. Enjoy the cool, colorful days of fall and we hope to see you soon at a Summit Club event! Save the Date – Holiday Open Houses! Carole Bond Summit Club Director [email protected] Chatfield - December 12th • Preston - December 19th Country Christmas December 2, 2014 Join this year’s holiday expedition to Coloma, Wisconsin Special coffee stop in morning – Holiday lights on return Enjoy a delectable homemade 3-meat dinner buffet followed by an actionpacked two - hour show filled with great music, exciting routines, hilarious comedy and fabulous costuming in the fully-restored barn theatre. $89.00 Reservations and payment due November 14, 2014 Depart Preston at 7:15 AM – Fountain at 7:25 AM – Chatfield at 7:45 AM Summit Club Day-Away At the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre November 5, 2014 $89.00 All Inclusive Reservations and payment due before October 10, 2014 Depart Preston 8:00 AM – Fountain 8:10 AM – Chatfield 8:30 AM Early evening return – Estimate 6:30 PM F&M Community Bank Page 5 Sweet Summer Sweat For the most part, this summer the weather has been great. Temperatures in the 70’s with little humidity. Perfect weather for golf, fishing, biking, working outside and all the other activities we Minnesotans enjoy in the summer. However, we have just had some humidity that would even make a Floridian uncomfortable. Very humid. So humid there is fog in the morning, dew until noon and air you can hardly breathe. Your clothes get so sweaty they stick to you like another layer of skin. After working outside on one of these days, I peeled off my “stanky” clothes, showered and headed out to eat. While eating I commented how nice it was to be cooled off and not sweaty after being outside for most of the day. Well, that only lasted for a short time as Vonnie knocked over a glass of red wine onto my lap. Not as uncomfortable as sweat mind you, but wet nonetheless. And just as we got my clothes dried with a handful of napkins, the waitress, seeing our distress, brings over [Can] a spray bottle of wine cleaner. I was glad to be dry. Vonnie was glad to see a solution to the red wine stains she would have to deal with later. So, she hosed me down with the spray cleaner and I was wet again. The trifecta was complete. Sweat, red wine and cleaner. Charles Aug President/ Chief Operating Officer [email protected] As I mumbled about being wet again, Vonnie simply stated that “I think the stain will come out now”. We all got our worries. Stay dry. The Scandinavian Sister Trio A Nordic Variety Show Join F & M Bank at the Chatfield Center For the Arts (Potter Auditorium) on October 1st, 2014 at 7:00 PM for a delightful Branson-style Variety Show with Scandinavian Flavor! Hilarious! Humorous! Harmonies! Fun. Entertaining. Original. $20.00 General Admission Show Tickets available to the Public at Both F & M Locations. Reserved Seating for Summit Club Members is included with their 20th Anniversary Celebration Invitation. F & M Insurance Services Page 6 SAFETY FIRST From the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, June 18, 2014: – Kitchen fires killed more people in 2013 than the previous seven years combined, according to numbers from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety State Fire Marshal Division’s (SFMD) preliminary Fire in Minnesota report. Cherrie Brink F&M Insurance Agency Manager [email protected] Six people died last year in fires caused by someone leaving food cooking unattended. Unattended cooking – which caused an average of less than one death each year since 2006 – joined careless smoking as the top cause of fire fatalities last year in Minnesota. “Leaving the kitchen, even for just a moment, can be deadly,” State Fire Marshal Bruce West said. “Following a few simple rules can keep us all safe and put an end to these preventable fire deaths.” There were 6,330 structure fires last year in Minnesota and 44 fire deaths. The top three causes of structure fires were cooking (49 percent), heating (9 percent) and electrical disturbances (6 percent). Keeping in mind that October 5-11 is National Fire Prevention Week, here are some Fire safety and prevention tips • Never leave food cooking on the stove unattended. • Keep a lid next to each pot or pan so you can smother a fire if one starts. • Keep rags, pot holders, paper towels and curtains away from the stove. • Roll up your sleeves and keep your apron snug. • Clean cooking surfaces and your oven often; grease and heat are a deadly combination. • Keep children out of the kitchen and away from the stove. • Make sure your smoke alarms are working. • Have a safe-escape plan for every building you visit, even your own home. • Consider protecting your home or business with fire sprinklers. Other public safety observances in October are: Brenda Reicks Agent [email protected] 6-10 Drive Safely Work Week Network of Employers for Traffic Safety 19-25 National Teen Driver Safety Week National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 20-24 School Bus Safety Week National Association for Pupil Transportation You may obtain more information at www.napt.org Still Available! The Program W82txt presentation available for your Driver’s Ed or Community Wellness class. Just contact Brenda or Cherrie if you are interested. We also have the W82txt thumb bands available in our office. We know that not all storms in life are preventable and we want to help you when those things happen too, but we also want to encourage you to take whatever safety measures you can to protect yourselves and your property. We enjoy working with each and every one of you and hope the next time we get the chance to interact, it is on a positive basis. Be Well! Matt’s Trivia The material for this month’s trivia was given to me by one of my co-workers. The topic is “The New High School Exit Exam”. We may all know that many states require students to pass certain exit exams before they graduate from High School. It was reported in 2012 that 25 of 50 states did require anywhere from 2 to 15 tests to be passed by students before they could graduate from High School. The majority of the states in the list of 25 required 2 to 4 tests. The remaining 25 states required no exit exams to be passed. Below is the “New” High School Exit exam to test your knowledge and see if you could pass a test now to graduate from High School. You need to get 4 correct out of 10. Something tells me that this test may not be a legitimate High School exit exam! 1. 2. 3. 4. Matthew Quanrud Technology Officer [email protected] How long did the Hundred Year’s War last? Which country makes Panama Hats? From what animal do we get cat gut? In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? 5. What is a camel’s hair brush made of? 6. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? 7. What was King George VI’s first name? 8. What color is a purple finch? 9. Where are Chinese gooseberries from? 10. What color is the black box in a commercial airplane? How did you do? Answers 1. 116 years, 2. Ecuador, 3. Sheep and horses, 4. November, 5. Squirrel fur, 6. Dogs, 7. Albert, 8. Crimson, 9. New Zealand, 10. Orange F & M Investment Services Page 7 Happiest Place on Earth to hear the Fillmore Central Band! It is hard to believe that the summer is over and we are now back in school mode. Again, the summer seemed to zip by faster than past years. This year our family went on a vacation that provided some memories of a lifetime and, I am sure, contributed to the feel of a shorter summer. Along with my wife Sharone, and our daughter Sierra, we made the trek to Florida to see our son Sam and our niece Kaitlynn perform with the Fillmore Central Band and march through the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. What an experience! We have been to Walt Disney World before and have watched high school bands march through the Magic Kingdom but never thought we would someday witness the Fillmore Central Band on Main Street Disney. Not surprisingly, the band sounded fantastic and marched flawlessly. It was exciting to see the enthusiasm of the crowd and of course the parents, chaperones and others that made the trip to see the band. We even had the chance to get together with Sam and some of his friends for a few amusement rides. (For some reason Sam didn’t want us around too much) One particular ride was the thrilling Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It is a ride that simulates an elevator breaking down and providing randomized patterns of drops and lifts. The ride holds up to 15 people so it was entertaining getting the whole group on at the same time. The picture shows the excitement or fear in those on [Clear] the ride! I know that it is a memory that I will never forget. For us to plan a vacation like this, we had to budget and take the time to put all the plans together. We started the planning process over a year ago. As a segway to my role at F & M Community Bank, I can’t help but think how different retirement would be for so many people if we spent as much time planning for retirement as we do planning for our vacations. Scott Rustad Securities offered through Cetera Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA, located at F & M Community Bank. Cetera Investment Services, LLC and F & M Community Bank are not affiliated. Registered Representative [email protected] Not FDIC Insured. Not a Bank Deposit. No Bank Guarantee. May Lose Value YOU could be a winner “Missing word contest” We have hidden a song title in this issue of F & M Community Connections. The song title will have a missing word. Read your news- letter carefully looking for any words enclosed in [brackets] like this. Rearrange the words to form the song title of a popular song. One word will be missing from the title. Figure out the missing word, and write the missing word only on the Missing Word contest form found below. All correct entries received prior to the deadline date indicated on the form are entered into a $25.00 drawing. All entries received throughout the year will be entered into a year-end drawing for a grand prize of $100! Good luck! Mail to: Missing Word Contest, F&M Community Bank, PO Box 467, Preston, MN 55965 ENTRY FORM ____________________________________________ Name ____________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________ The missing word is ________________________________ Entries must be received by October 31, 2014, to be eligible for Quarterly Drawing. Muriel H a nso n of Presto n, MN Winner in Summ er Issue! “Happy D a ys Are Her e Again” F & M Community Bank, N.A. Balance Sheet 6/30/2014 Cash & Due From Banks Securities Loans (Net of Loan Loss Allowance) Other Assets Total Assets 2,652,811 22,392,484 74,007,634 4,889,198 103,942,127 Deposits Other Liabilities Capital Total Liabilities and Capital 81,718,788 9,241,405 12,981,934 103,942,127 FIRST CLASS PRESORTED U.S. POSTAGE PAID POS 100 Saint Anthony St. N • PO Box 467 • Preston, MN 55965-0467 229 Main St. N • PO Box 519 • Chatfield,MN 55923-0519 Fall is Here! Free checking has never been so rewarding. We’re committed to making banking easy, which is why we’re excited to announce we now carry Kasasa – free checking with rewards you want. ® You get to choose: cash back on everyday purchases or really high rates, paid in cash.* Learn more at Kasasa.com/FMCommunity In person, by phone, by mail and on the internet... “We Make Banking Easy!” TM www.fmcommunity.com
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