4 minute read
President’s Column
Gratefulness How lucky are we to be alive today? This year has been jam-packed with tragedies. Five people shot while practicing for a Congressional softball game. Raging forest fires in the West and Northwest. Hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Massive destruction and billions of dollars of property destroyed. The largest mass shooting in U.S. history at the Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas; 58 people killed. Then, five weeks later, a mad man walks into a small rural church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and kills 26 people during worship services. This year has been full of suffering, hardship, and disappointment. It is easy to be disheartened and a little bitter from the effects of so many tragedies. Bundle these tragedies together with increasing burdens of regulations, legislation
and, as of yet, unfulfilled promises of reg reform and it is very likely that you have a hard time being thankful for all that we really do have to be thankful for. So I have decided to do some things differently. I am going to concentrate on the simple fact that my life is better than I deserve. I am taking November (Thanksgiving) and December (Christmas) to express my blessings for being here today, and for everything I do have. I am going to be positive for the next two months, and maybe more. A couple of my reasons for giving thanks, and in no particular order: I am thankful for my wife. She chose to take me for better or worse 30 years ago. She has gotten both and she is still my biggest fan! I am thankful for my health and the fact I will be able to eat turkey and the trimmings this holiday. I am grateful for an understanding board and executive committee that supported me this year at the times when I was not able to give a 100% effort. I am blessed to have a team at work that pitched in and took over so many times this year.
PRESIDENT & CEO BILL HOLMES
BILL HOLMES PRESIDENT/CEO 501.978.3602 | bill.holmes@arkbankers.org ABA STAFF
CARLA BRINKLEY VP/CONTROLLER 501.978.3608 | carla.brinkley@arkbankers.org
AVA F. ROBERTS VP/DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 501.978.3606 | ava.roberts@arkbankers.org
JESSICA SAHENE MARKETING COORDINATOR 501.978.3609 | jessica.sahene@arkbankers.org
BARRY JACKSON SVP/COO 501.978.3613 | barry.jackson@arkbankers.org
KAMI T. COLEMAN VP/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 501.978.3614 | kami.coleman@arkbankers.org
TRACI LOGSDON DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS 501.978.3603 | traci.logsdon@arkbankers.org
BRENDA SCARBROUGH ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT 501.978.3607 | brenda.scarbrough@arkbankers.org
You all know I could go on and on, but I will remember this list for the rest of this year, and more. My challenge to you is simple. Today, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, take some time and create your list of the things you want to give thanks for. Give it a minute and you will be amazed at all of the things that will come to mind. In case you’re having trouble, here are some thoughts from people far wiser than us on how to get started. “Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ~ Oprah Winfrey “If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.” ~ John Wooden “Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” ~ Alphonse Karr “Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Remember, life is an echo. It always gets back to you. So give goodness. ” ~ Unknown “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie Happy Thanksgiving my friends; I am so grateful for our hometown bankers, and for everything you do in your communities.
DAVE DICKSON | CHAIRMAN Union Bank & Trust Co., Monticello JIM CARGILL | TREASURER Arvest Bank, Little Rock CATHY OWEN | CHAIRMAN-ELECT Eagle Bank, Little Rock SEAN WILLIAMS | PAST CHAIRMAN First National Bank of Wynne, Wynne ABA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
ROB ROBINSON IV | VICE CHAIRMAN Simmons Bank, El Dorado BILL HOLMES | PRESIDENT/CEO Arkansas Bankers Association, Little Rock
JOHNNY ADAMS | GROUP 2 First Security Bank, Conway PHIL BALDWIN | GROUP 2 Citizens Bank, Batesville JEFF BRECKLEIN | GROUP 1 Integrity First Bank, Jonesboro GENE CRAWFORD | GROUP 5 Citizens Bank, Batesville DAVID DOWD | GROUP 1 Cross County Bank, Wynne TROY DUKE | GROUP 5 Gateway Bank, Rison NATHAN GAIRHAN | GROUP 3 United Bank, Springdale DON GIBSON | GROUP 3 Legacy National Bank, Springdale CHRIS GOSNELL | GROUP 4 Farmers Bank & Trust Co., Magnolia ABA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TOM GRUMBLES | GROUP 2 First Service Bank, Greenbrier SCOTT HANCOCK | GROUP 3 Centennial Bank, Fayetteville DARWIN HENDRIX | GROUP 4 Bank of Delight, Delight DAVID JESSUP | GROUP 5 DeWitt Bank & Trust, DeWitt WILSON MOORE | GROUP 2 Bank of America, Little Rock
JERRY MORGAN | GROUP 1 Focus Bank, Jonesboro LORI ROSS | GROUP 4 Citizens Bank, Arkadelphia JASON TENNANT | GROUP 3 Cornerstone Bank, Eureka Springs LYNN WRIGHT | GROUP 2 Regions Bank, Little Rock
