Thanks for the Memories

I want to thank managing editor Elaine Barr for the kind and generous article she wrote in the April 6 issue of Credit Union Times about my impending retirement. The interview allowed me to recall the many good times I have experienced in credit union land. I especially enjoyed reminiscing about the people I have met over the years. It was almost a listing of the Who’s Who for the past 30 plus years. It certainly is a list of Who has been Who in my world for over 30 years. As I thought more about the fine people I met during my tenure, I realized that I should not have been surprised about the quality of the folks in this movement/industry. All of us are here by choice; most of us are here because we enjoy serving in a social as well as professional capacity. Credit unions do good things for people. We enable people of modest and not so modest means to realize the American dream. We help them buy cars, houses, cribs, beds and all the other necessities of life. From time to time we also help them purchase a few toys such as boats, RVs and other items to add to their enjoyment of life. More lately, we are branching out to provide them the wherewithal to become independent and open small businesses. And, we do these things as a service, not as a way to fill our pockets with profits. I truly believe that credit unions attract lots of good people because of all the good things we do for lots of other people. When I left Sun Bank in 1973 and joined credit unions as the branch manager of Vista Federal Credit Union at Walt Disney World, service to others was not on my mind. It is only after the years I have spent working in and learning about our philosophy and our purpose that make me very proud of the time I have been permitted to spend here and the people I have spent it with. I leave active credit union service knowing that I have personally benefited to a much greater degree than I have contributed. Thanks again for letting me go out with an additional degree of class. I will read the article to my grandchildren and great grandchildren to show them I had a really interesting credit union career. It will also be obvious to them that I have some very neat and classy friends I met along the way. Paul F. Simkins President (retired) CORE Credit Union Statesboro, Ga.