ANOTHER YEAR... another month (Part 153f)

ANOTHER YEAR... another month (Part 153f)

The day before had been the regular monthly Board meeting. There were two things of importance that came from it... work had been started on the new branch and ”Polak“ Joe was back in good stead. Because the day after the meeting was a holiday Bret and I didn’t find out about the progress on the branch until that Friday and it was Hobie who told us. The weather had been warm enough to pour the slab and to create the basic part of the vault. He said he was going to take a ride up to the site on Saturday and asked if either of us wanted to go along. I really didn’t because of town team basketball. I hated to leave the guys on the team ‘hanging’ but also felt that if I didn’t go it would reflect poorly on me so I said yes. As I found out later, Bret also accepted the invite fearing the same thing.

We met at Hobie’s house around mid morning and during the 40 minute or so ride we got to talk about a lot of things. One was Jerry. I’d vowed to keep my mouth shut pretty much figuring that since he was the ‘pet’ of some of the Board members I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors by citing his deficiencies. So, when Hobie asked for both Bret’s and my observations on his performance I was surprised. Neither of us wanted to answer and when Hobie realized it he told us that ”it would be off the record”. I took a deep breath and told him that I just didn’t trust him to follow bank protocols. I didn’t give any specific examples but Bret did. Emboldened by his words I added on by saying that if he couldn’t follow rules and regulations with the three of us looking over his shoulder what was going to happen when he was on his own.

I waited for Hobie to respond but he ‘clammed up’ just like he did when I questioned him about Gina a few months earlier. I was pretty sure I knew him well enough that he wouldn’t put either of us in jeopardy as far as the Board members were concerned but I didn’t know just what he’d do with the information that we’d given him. The last mile or so before we got to the site was quiet. As I’d written in an earlier post, the property was irregular in shape and forced compromises as far as the location of the building so as to allow for a drive-up window. On the plans it didn’t look all that bad but seeing the footprint of the actual building on the property it was a bit of a shock. The township required that we put in sidewalks even though there were none on the properties on either side of our lot. That left but a few feet between the building and the sidewalk. The first thing  that troubled me was that there was little to no space for a sign that could or would be read by passing traffic. It would have to be on the building itself. Zoning had requirements as to the size of any signage on a commercial property. In expressing my concern to Hobie he thought that our newest Trustee, a local (to that area) attorney might be able to wrangle a variance for us and not to worry about it right then.

We were just about to go and inspect the vault when a car pulled up beside Hobie’s vehicle. Out stepped Jerry followed by his wife and daughter. Seeing them walking across the slab together I couldn’t help but think of the cartoon character, the Sad Sack, as he had this hang-dog look on his face. I could hear his wife’s shrill voice complaining about how hard it was going to be to find a place to live in the area. As we were about to find out they’d been surveying the housing developments near the branch. Basically, there weren’t any. There were a few that were proposed but it was pretty barren right at that time. The next twenty or so minutes were spent listening to her ask all kids of questions, all of which should’ve been asked by Jerry during his interview(s). Hobie, politely, got us out of the situation saying he had to be back home to go to a luncheon. He wasn’t completely lying... because he’d volunteered to take Bret and I to lunch but it was at a restaurant that was on our way back.

None of us wanted to speak at first. Finally, I broke the silence by asking if anyone heard Jerry say anything after he reintroduced his wife and daughter to us. I was looking at Bret when I spoke and he just broke out with a laugh. Hobie was trying to keep a straight face but not for long. He changed the subject by stating that we needed to stay on top of the construction of the actual building as he’d come to agree with me that the placement of the manager’s office was less than ideal. That made me feel good although I pretty much knew that I’d be the one to follow up the inspections.

Later, I found that the town team had lost again but it wouldn’t have mattered even if I’d been there. I did find out that there had been a schedule change and that we were to play on Tuesday night, at home. The team we were playing had been preempted from their school gym and Jack (our coach) arranged it so we could play at our school. Jack was eager to play this team because they, like us, had lost all the games they’d been in. He wanted a ‘real’ win rather than a forfeited one. He’d scouted the team and told the guys that Davo, our big guy would score at least 20 points against them. I heard that and wanted to laugh. The most points we’d scored in the games I’d attended and played in were less than that.

On game night, Bobo was there waiting for us with her goodies, only she told us we had to win to get them. I was surprised to see Johnnie, Sandy’s husband, there. I hadn't seen him since early in the Fall. It turned out that Jack had been working on him to play and had finally convinced him. He’d been really upset that he hadn’t even been interviewed for either coaching position, especially after he’d been the JV coach the year before. But, what was especially pleasing was to see Sandy there as well. That gave me two females to check out for both DP’s and VPL’s.

To be continued...