Date: 8.19.2010

New Buffalo Savings Bank bids at fair auction again in 2010.

Erica and Leah Zandarski with KarenCummings of New Buffalo Savings Bank in front of thier pens of chickens after the poultry auction in August, 2010.

Karen Cummings with Phillip Capps and his Reserve Champion Fryers and his dad.

Each year I go to the Berrien County Youth Fair, I come home refreshed. No matter what may be happening in the rest of the world, life in Berrien County looks pretty good from there. The fairgrounds are a safe place where kids wander freely. Evidence of their hard work is everywhere from the dog show tent and equestrian center to the home economics halls and animal barns. It's easy to strike up a conversation with total strangers and walk away feeling like you know them. I see optimism in the faces of kids and their parents. I buy chickens at the poultry auction each year for New Buffalo Savings Bank. This year Three Oaks branch manager Karen Cummings came along and got in on the fun. No matter how much their birds go for, the kids are good at showing up in the auction tent to thank their buyers. It's a courtesy much appreciated - especially when it includes a bag of cookies, a potted plant, or a couple jars of homemade jam! The birds we bought this year, as in years past, went to the Harbor Country Emergency Food Pantry freezers. Because no matter how great things look on fair day, there are still people struggling in our communities.

Wendy Simons
New Buffalo Savings Bank