Evolution of C ustomer A pp The
As a community bank, we believe it is important to give back to the people who make our business possible. Hills Bank’s Customer Appreciation Day began as a way to celebrate our local customers in Hills, Iowa – our original and only location when this tradition started in 1972. Given the importance of agriculture to our customers, what better way to say thanks than with locally sourced meat for a late summer barbecue?
After Bank President Albert Droll purchased the 1972 Johnson County Fair Champion Steer, Hills Bank invited 250 customers to the first event, held behind the bank. The meat was cooked in pits with seasoned hardwood to provide a hot bed of coals. This all-night process assured tender, juicy beef for the sandwiches that were served. The barbecue was a hit – and in the years after, it attracted crowds beyond Iowa.
“I always enjoyed seeing people come from all over the state, and even places like North Dakota,” said Hills
Bank President Dwight Seegmiller, who joined the bank in 1975. “It was a big gathering for our community, and a way for us to demonstrate that the customer always comes first.”
Tim Smith, Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking, had quite the introduction to the customer appreciation barbecue in 1980 – it was also his very first day at Hills Bank! “We served around 3500-4000 people on that day,” he recalled. “And it grew even larger from there.”
By the late 1990s, an average of 8,000 customers and friends were attending the barbecue in Hills. To feed the massive crowd, it took:
• 488 gallons of iced tea
• 3,300 pounds of beef
• 2,832 cartons of milk
• 288 gallons of potato salad
• 300 volunteers
• 236 gallons of baked beans
• 6,720 cartons of ice cream
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Friends Club News
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