Bank of Malta Holds 50 Year Open House

On Thursday, April 28, the Bank of Malta celebrated 50 years of service to the Malta community with an open house. Cake, cookies, and punch were served to a very well attended celebration.

The bank also celebrated many of the longtime employees and those that were there at the beginning.

The Bank of Malta, originally called First Security Bank, held its grand opening on Friday, April 21, 1972.

Over those 50 years, there have been many different employees that have come and gone. One employee, Cheri Doll, has worked with all of them. She started out as a bookkeeping teller, has been an owner, director, vice president, cashier, and loans, and now holds the position of Chief of Knowledge.

"I only work three days a week now, so I fill in wherever I am needed," said Doll. "The biggest difference has been just the technology that has come in. When I started, we were calculating loans by hand, then the big computers came in. Things have just gotten smaller and smaller since then."

There were two other special attendees at the open house.

Jack Kelly, now retired and living in Zortman, was the man that started the bank and even designed the original logo for the bank. He was the original bank president and held the job for almost four years, before moving on to another bank.

"The building is structurally the same," said Kelly. "Except for the additions, and the updated look. If you put some seventy's décor in here, it would be close to the same."

The third of the original employees at the open house was Madalyn Anderson. She was a teller from the start in 1972 until 1978.

"I was about 45 working with others that were in their 20s and the computers started coming out," said Anderson. "That was something I didn't want to mess with."

Current Branch Manager Jackie Sorlie said, "We have had a really good turnout. I am very happy. It's been a lot of fun seeing the original three talk and listen to some of the stories from the very beginning of the bank."