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When Credit Union Members, Regulators and the White House Were in Alignment

From the President to the Treasury Secretary (1936):

In the first years of implementing the  1934 Federal Credit Union Act, oversight of the emerging federal option was placed in the Farm Credit Administration.   The FCA’s publication, Cooperative Saving, was a quarterly sent to all credit unions about how to set up and run a credit union.  William Myers, the FCA’s administrator, wrote this statement in the July-August 1938 first issue.

Note the “Memorandum-The Basis of Credit Union Success” is addressed to all FCU members.  And his statement, “If anyone should ask for the reason for this success. . . I should refer them to you.”

Aligning NCUA with administration on  priorities is critical to legislative change, such Congress’s  1984 restructuring of the NCUSIF following cooperative principles. The White House’s Assistant to the President David Gergen, acknowledges NCUA’s role for “restraining excessive government spending.”

When members, regulators and the Administration’s priorities are aligned in support  of cooperatives, credit unions “will continue to flourish greatly as one of the hopeful and lasting institutions of American life.”  It has happened before.

 

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For Members’ Sake: Let’s Start Recognizing the Real  “Market” Value of a Credit Union

Today credit unions operate in two financial worlds.  One is the so called “free market.” This is where open competition, winner-take-all, buying and selling happens. Members/consumers make their buying decisions comparing options.  The winners are firms with superior value propositions including better products, service, convenience and sometimes marketing.

This is the market credit unions enter when buying banks or  investing in other firms (CUSO’s, Fintechs) to advance their credit union’s competitive position. Corporate transactions are marked by due diligence assisted by external experts, and financial projections with ROI’s and cash flow forecasts.  Often these deals are subject to close regulatory scrutiny in addition to buyer and seller’s close analysis.

Transactions in credit union’s “off market” financial  activity are not based on transparency, superior performance or even shareholder/owners best interest.  This is the “insiders game” of private deal making, self-enrichment and public misinformation and rhetoric to benefit the players’ personal agendas.

Today this is the world of credit union mergers.  It is increasingly  a cesspool of pretend member advantages disguising payoffs  to facilitate changes in control of sound long-serving institutions.

There is no owner payment or recognition as occurs in the “free market” transactions.  In fact these are totally “free” transfers  in which the continuing credit union is paid to take over the business.  The owner’s net worth is transferred intact to the acquirer. This is the complete opposite of an open market transaction.  It would never happen in a fully transparent actual market sale.

The Critical Issue

The critical question for the credit union system’s future is why aren’t members paid for their ownership interest when there is a change of control.  It happens some with market facing events, but never in mergers. Without any payments upon a charter’s dissolution, member-ownership is a fiction.

Credit unions do know how to value a financial institution, their own coops and other for profit firms.

Credit union  capacity and interest in buying other financial institutions, particularly banks is ever-increasing.   These all-cash purchase and assumptions totaled 16 in 2022, 11 in 2023 and at least 17 announced so far in 2024.

In most purchases, the transaction price ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 times book value.  Where the bank is publicly traded, the offers always exceed the last market quotation prior to the sale announcement. Here is an example.

The Most Recent Bank Purchase Announcement

Yesterday  the $9.2 billion ESL FCU announced the acquisition of the $401 million Generations bank (Nasdaq: GBNY).  Prior to the announcement GBNY’s one day high for the past year was $10.76.  Today, post announcement, it closed at $15.75 per share.

In the announcement the bank estimates the range of final cash payments for each share to be $18-$20.   From the joint press release:  “ESL Federal Credit Union will pay Generations $26.2 million in cash and Generations Bank will retain its equity at the effective time of the P&A Transaction.”

Generations Bancorp has 2,241,801 outstanding shares of common stock.  If $20 is the final disribution per share, then the bank owners will receive a total of $44.8 million, that is their equity and ESL’s $26.2 million payment.

We know there must be some pretty sharp financial analysts at ESL which is paying $26.2 million cash for an institution whose track record includes the following:

  1. The bank has lost money, every quarter, for the last three quarters.
  2. The bank has an efficiency ratio over 100%, every quarter, for the last three quarters.
  3. This means the bank lost money, before factoring in provision for loan loss expense.
  4. Since 2015, the bank has produced an ROA over 0.50% just once.
  5. It’s pretax ROA through 6/30 of this year is negative 0.90%.

How  Bank Purchases Should Inform Credit Union Owners

The example of credit unions paying cash in a bank P&A, effectively a liquidation, demonstrates credit union’s willingness to analyze market value and to pay up for performing financial assets.  In these deals, there is no charter acquired. just an operating business.

Moreover each of these transactions is reviewed and approved by at least three very interested parties:

  1. The owners who will ask is this price fair and a better option than not selling?
  2. The FDIC will examine for any residual risk to the bank fund.
  3. The NCUA will review for any safety and soundness implications and compliance with credit union regulations for acquired assets and FOM limits.

The point of this example, and almost 50 recent bank acquisitions is that credit union’s know how to value the potential future ROI of a financial institution’s assets.

So how might this skill apply to valuation of a credit union?  While there are not many recent examples, there is one thoroughly documented transaction.

The Nationwide FCU Sale to Nationwide Bank

In 2006 the sponsor of Nationwide FCU announced its intent to buy its credit union to accelerate its banking operations.   Founded in 1951, the single sponsor credit union was almost an extension of the insurance company. Almost all of its members were Nationwide employees, former employees or retirees and their families. The CU’s employees were all Nationwide Insurance employees and the CU performed very few of its administrative functions on its own.

The first question for the members was: “Will the 45,000 owners of the $564 million Nationwide FCU be offered enough money for their credit union?”

The credit union’s key numbers at December 2006, right after the vote were:  Assets $564.1 million;  Loans  $  418.3 million;  Net Worth $61.5 million (12.7%); shares $489.3 million; and Members, 45,002.  Nationwide was the 4th largest of Ohio’s 495 credit unions.

Further comments from an August 8, 2006 Credit Union Times article about the sale:

“When what is happening in so many other merger and charter conversions amounts to little more than thievery, the fact that Nationwide was willing to try to do the right thing means a lot,” said Jim Blaine, CEO of the $13 billion State Employees’ Credit Union. 

Blaine said that his comments and support for the purchase reflected the degree of transparency that the CU has offered. “If that transparency were to diminish, if the CU were to hold back on letting its members and the public at large know about how it and Nationwide Bank arrived at the $79 million price tag, then the deal might face more of an uphill climb,”  Blaine explained. 

The final member Notice disclosures were significant including full details of merger costs, loss of member control, and that taxation of the bank might lower returns to savers. The article continues:

McCune and other banking analysts note that a premium of even 150% or 200% of equity for an independent CU might not be out of line and would still be considered inexpensive compared to the prices commanded by independent thrifts. . . 

“The phenomenon (of a credit union sale) is more likely to remain an occasional development where banks might approach CUs which have access to particular markets or market niches and where CU members would be willing to sell. Everyone has a price,” the analyst noted, 

The Nationwide sale was approved by a wide margin in as reported in this November 7 article:

CEO Paula Edwards said that almost 17,000 of the CU members took part in the election and that almost 90% of the members who voted cast ballots in favor of the merger. 

Approving the deal means that Nationwide’s members will receive $79 million total, or roughly 15% of their account balances as of the end of March of this year as the price for the sale. The new bank will benefit from the purchase by having a readymade customer and deposit base that would have taken it months or years to develop otherwise. 

The Significance of Nationwide FCU’s Sale

Members were returned all of their cooperative capital plus an estimated premium of $17 million more.  This represented a gain of approximately 15% on their individual share balances.  In banking sales, this valuation is often referred to as the deposit premium when valuing a transaction.

According to CU Times, there were some who thought this transaction could be an example for additional deals.

Some view the Nationwide deal as the model for the potential takeovers of credit unions. Nationwide was a very unique case, , , CEO Paula Edwards is one of the true good credit union people and had little choice in that deal. The reasons behind it can be thrown out, but what can’t be thrown out is the premium on capital Nationwide Bank was willing to pay, that’s the potential model going forward. 

“This proposed merger ensures credit union members receive a financial benefit in the transaction. Nationwide has agreed to give members a payment for their ownership interest in the credit union,” said NFCU CEO Paula Edwards.

The Irony of This Transaction

On May 7, 2018 Nationwide announced it was getting out of the retail banking business.

The insurer said Monday that it has decided to move away from operating as a full-service, federally chartered retail bank — the kind of place where people cash checks, sign up for CDs and the like. Instead, it plans to focus its bank-related services on those that support its retirement-plan business. 

Implementing this intention, Nationwide made a follow on announcement August 3rd, 2018:

Nationwide has taken a big step as part of its plan to get out of the retail banking business. 

The insurer said Friday that it is selling $3 billion in deposits at Nationwide Bank to BofI Holding, the parent of BofI Federal Bank, in a deal that is expected to close before the end of the year. The sales price was not disclosed. 

BofI Federal Bank, based in San Diego, is a nationwide bank that provides financing for single-family and multifamily residential properties and small and medium-sized business in certain target areas. 

Even selling to a new charter or transferring control does not assure financial longevity.

How NFCU and Bank Transactions Are Relevant Now

There are two immediate conversions from a credit union charter that will entail a valuation with  potential member payout.

June 23, 20 24 the FDIC announced the following:

The FDIC approved a deposit insurance application submitted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in relation to a proposed Utah industrial bank, Thrivent Bank. The FDIC also approved a related merger application that will permit Thrivent FCU to merge the operations of its existing credit union into the newly formed Thrivent Bank. 

The newly approved Thrivent Bank will not operate physical branch office locations and intends to deliver all bank products and services exclusively online, offering a diversified loan portfolio centered in consumer loans and funded primarily by core deposits, following a traditional bank business model.  Thrivent Bank will offer products and services without regard to religious affiliation.

Thrivent FCU has total assets of $930 million and a net worth of $129 million . What will member-owners receive in this sale to an industrial bank charter formed by the Sponsoring company?   Will it follow the Nationwide payment precedent?

The second event is the combination Arrah Credit Union with the $378 million, mortgage centric, Pittsfield Cooperative Bank.  The details are in this August  14, 2024 Credit Union Times report:

Chartered in 1929, Arrha’s 27 employees operate three locations, and manage $110 million in loans, $122 million in total shares and deposits, and $12.4 million in equity, according to NCUA financial performance reports. The credit union posted a loss of $9,222 at the end of the second quarter.

The process to combine is very cumbersome. A minimum of 20% of the eligible members are required to vote for the transaction to proceed.

Arrha’s NIMRA application, under review by the NCUA, included 15 different documents and statements such as the merger plan, the proposed merger agreement, a copy of the bank’s last two examination reports, copies of all contracts reflecting any merger-related compensation or other benefit to be received by any director or senior executive, a statement of the merger valuation of the credit union, and a statement of whether any merger payment will be made to the members and how much of a payment will be distributed among members.

The question raised by these two current events, the growth in bank purchases and the Nationwide sale and other conversion precedents is why aren’t credit union being  member-owners compensated today? When  members are asked to approve the transfer and control of all their assets and common wealth to another credit union via merger, shouldn’t they be treated as least as well as when credit unions pay out bank owners?

Time to Take a Stand and Act

Its time for those who believe in a cooperative system to take a stand and ensure that intra-industry mergers reflect the same process and member-owner payments as every other credit union financial transaction requires.

Without change, the industry will be in  a race to the bottom.   As I described yesterday, one predatory credit union, PenFed, has cancelled 30 long serving credit union charters via merger between 2003 and 2022.   Even as PenFed hits a financial stall, this activity is being imitated by others daily.

Credit unions want all the authorities and options to compete in the open financial markets, but not when it comes to their own brethren.   These industry predators want the opportunities of the free market, but not the responsibility of transparent dealing and ownership reward when taking over another credit union.

These “off market” dealings are corrupting leaders, perverting normal financial practice and encouraging credit unions to go out and “roll up” their kindred in bigger and bigger combinations.  This trend is subverting not just the traditional practice of market based firms, but driving a consolidation eliminating one of the most stratgic advantages of a credit union charter: local control, investment, relationships and community building.

Why can’t the Nationwide outcome be the standard for all credit union mergers as well.  From the above event:

what can’t be thrown out ( of the outcome) is the premium on capital Nationwide Bank was willing to pay, that’s the potential model going forward. 

Shouldn’t that be the model today for all change of control credit union transactions?

 

 

 

 

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How Mergers Tear Down the Credit Union System

The front page headline in the June 18, 2003 American Banker was “Pentagon Continues Merger Binge.”

The opening paragraph provided the details:

Pentagon FCU was approved to acquire its third credit union in the past six months, the $26 million Fort Hood Military FCU, in Fort Hood Texas, NCUA said Tuesday. That follows two December acquisitions for the $5.8billion credit union, those of $46 million Fort Shafter FCU in Hawaii and $13 million Coast Guard Employees FCU in Maryland.

This twenty year old description was before mergers of sound, long serving independent credit unions became much more widespread. A decade later credit union system CEO’s, consultants and regulators openly promoted these acquisitions as a quick and easy alternative to internal organic growth.  After all isn’t success just a factor of size?

This industry competition for acquisitions was based on offering private personal inducements for CEO’s and senior managers.  The practice became so blatant that in 2017 NCUA passed a rule to bring more transparency to the process.   The rule didn’t slow the wheeling and dealing.   It may have even legitimized these payoffs.

Now credit unions could routinely add wording to the required Notice and Disclosures of these payments and state that the regulators have approved the merger subject only to the member vote.

A Case Study Lookback

Two weeks ago I described the final step in PenFed’s 2021 merger with the $36 million Post Office Credit union in Madison, WI.  In August 2024 PenFed announced the closing of its only office in Madison. Since the 1934 chartering, Post Office’s 3,153 members (at time of merger) had received personal service.  No more.

I called this closure the final step in “asset stripping.” This is the practice in a takeover acquisition to maximize the profit and eliminate any future investment or expenses. All of Post Office’s resources, reserves, member accounts were transferred to the control of the Virginia based PenFed.  There is no longer any local presence, nuance or leadership roles in the community. With this branch closure, all member relationships are now virtual and remote.

The Final Cashout

Last week the land and building of the former Post Office location were put up for sale.

An internal view.

When the merger occurred, Post Office’s call report showed these assets with a book value of $589,222.  The real estate listing on September 17, 2024 had a list price of $1,260,000.  This is an increase of $671,000 (113%) in the three and one half years since the merger.   The net gain on sale all goes to PenFed as “other operating income.”   This is the final liquidation step of this 90-year old credit union which had 22% net worth at the merger date.

All Gain, No Risks, Members Left Behind

Paying nothing in these acquisitions for total control of  all of another credit union’s members’ net worth and reserves makes these takeovers a very profitable practice.  Systematically  stripping out all of the most valuable assets for maximum cash value puts the icing on the cake.  No worry about local commitments or member and community relationships.

Such takeovers are a common strategy in for-profit companies.   However in credit unions there is no acquisition cost, just a few crucial payouts to the CEO and perhaps,  other senior executives whose approval and pitch to the Board is required. It is literally free assets for the taking.

This practice is becoming more widespread.  It is  self-immolation, a systematic  institutional dismantling of the credit union system driven by greed and personal ambition, not member benefit.

In many situations today, the merger destroys the local advantages, loyalties and relationships that are the foundation for credit union’s success. The acquiring credit union’s field of membership, or market focus, has no center or rationale. There are no “network effects” for branding or service delivery that would create operational efficiencies.  Most critically the headquarters and leadership is  hundreds or thousands of miles away.  Local familiarity is all lost.

The consequence of credit unions preying and suborning their fellow CEO’s and boards is systematically demolishing the credit union advantage at both a market level and in the public’s eye.  The coop model is seen as no different from other financial options.  Especially in an era when virtual relationships are available from all financial providers.

And a credit union’s values are the same as every other market participant.  The winner takes all.

The rationale is that growth and size will guarantee success, an assumption frequently at odds with the facts and members’ experience.  Size does not automatically correlate with efficiency, growth or other financial metrics let alone operational excellence.

The PenFed Merger Demolition Derby Takes Off Again

Penfed pulled back from the American Banker’s “binge” strategy during the initial years of this century.  It should be noted that the three mergers listed in the article were all military bases.  One could argue that these were natural affiliations consistent with with PenFed’s focus and traditional brand.  In 2010 there was a single merger with the $11.6 million Tripler FCU in Hawaii.  And then a lull until 2015.

The Merger Frenzy Begins

In 2015 PenFed undertook an aggressive acquisition campaign that lasted until 4Q 2022.  They took over 25 credit unions located in 14 different states in under eight years.  The majority had no military affiliation, such as Post Office, McGraw Hill, Sperry Associates and Progressive.

Progressive, a New York state charter with a single office focused on taxi medallion lending.  This merger of a “troubled” institution resulted in a gain in the year acquired; more importantly it gave PenFed a field of membership open to anyone in America (the old Progressive state charter’s FOM).

The combined  assets of these 25 acquisitions at the time of merger was almost $3.0 billion.    As in Post Office’s example, control over all the assets, reserves, allowances and  member relationships were transferred to PenFed’s head office.  In some instances such as the very successful $265 million  Perry Associates single office credit union, the office was closed immediately after the merger. The employees  were let go, and all members forced into a virtual, remote service model.

Dismantling the Coop System

This systematic dismantling of credit unions and their successful local market positions is being emulated by other credit unions.  The hunt is  supported by a host of hanger’s on who benefit by facilitating this organized tear down of the cooperative alternative.

In many of the combinations below, the members, if a merger were really necessary, would have been better off with a local option familiar with their market and bringing real operational synergies.  But  in these private deal makings, the largest payoff to the CEO wins.  And besides no one ever looks back to see what happened.  Except for the members who begin to vote with their feet.

PenFed’s Eight Year Acquisition Spree

But  Does It Work?

One could still ask however if the strategy works as a growth enhancement to normal organic tactics. When PenFed completed the final Allus acquisition in 4Q 2022, it reported total assets of $35.9 billion.

At June 2024, PenFed’s total assets were $33.5 billion.   It would take more time to calculate all the other merger downsides such as local branches closed, the employees laid off and the number of members who left after being turned over to an organization with which they have no connection.   In its initial merger frenzy, PenFed’s growth looked easy and free of any cost or risks.

However members soon see the asset stripping and the absence of local leadership. Moreover, PenFed lost every credit union’s most important strategic advantage: the hard earned, unique value of long lasting member relationships.

When CEO’s care more about themselves then they do for members’ well being, the difference that makes cooperatives successful is gone.

PenFed is not alone in its disruptive wasting of long standing successful cooperative charters.  The question for those who believe in the unique role and purpose of cooperative design, is whether this faux capitalistic model becomes the norm for the system.  Or  like all false idols, will be defeated by the example of those who think the credit union model is first and foremost for members’ benefit, not managers or boards’ personal ambitions.

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A Generational Leader Visits Washington D.C.

Whatever your political interest or views of specific crisis, I believe Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is a statesman for all seasons and time.

In honor of his visit:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7cPNrpwfs0&list=RDGMEMMib4QpREwENw3_jAc0YgNw&index=5)

This message and photos from a friend in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, I saw that ordinary people live almost normal lives, build houses, go to work every day, and give birth to children. A friend of mine is expecting her sixth child, and I attended an outdoor baby shower in my hometown. I saw lots of stork’s nests wherever we went. This bird is the symbol of Ukraine.

 Her parting words:  Ukrainian people are used to death and tragedy but are holding on to life with all their strength…

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Can Democracy Work? An Historical Election Enters the Final Phase

As important as this November’s Presidential and congressional contests are, an even more critical election for the democratic credit union system is underway at SECU North Carolina.

For the second year, there is a contested election to the board of directors.   At SECU’s October 2023 annual meeting three member-nominated candidates won seats from three incumbents.  This year four seats are open.  The four board selected incumbents are opposed by a four member-nominated slate that includes three former SECU senior employees.

This event is historical for SECU and the credit union system.

  • It is highly unusual for any credit union,  especially the second largest in America, to have an election the provides members  a real choice of who will  represent them.
  • SECU’s size demonstrates the feasibility of this  cooperative voting process. At an estimated 2.8 million members, all eligible voters received a mail-in ballot; or, they can vote virtually by going online; or finally, vote in person , at the October 8th annual meeting.
  • The election demonstrates that democratic governance, versus self-nominated perpetual director selections by boards, is a viable credit union member oversight process.  One member, one vote, not weighted by the percentage of ownership as in most corporations.

Entering the Final Weeks

Absentee online virtual voting ends October 1.   Both sides are promoting get out the vote campaigns.   The credit union has added a webpage with descriptions of the  election   steps.  Linking to the Learn More tab presents a two minute video from SECU Chair Mona Moon explaining the board’s nomination process and the virtues of their four incumbent candidates.  There is a second video with brief profiles and statements of these  four,  but not videos for  the competing slate.

In addition to the four  incumbents’ use of this “home court advantage” in presenting themselves , the credit union appears to be buying ads supporting their election on social media.  Here is an example with the SECU logo:

The Opposition’s Campaign

The member nominated slate is also active with a Facebook social media site SECU for All.

The site’s purpose is:

The member-nominated candidates are the underdogs in this race—up against a $50 billion SECU led by a board & administration that’s spending your money to suppress members’ voices and prop up these incumbents.

Help us spread the word! EVERY SINGLE VOTE MATTERS!

This Facebook landing page shows widespread grass roots participation as well as material for supporters’ use with their friends.  An additional site is a SECU for All resource with links to bios, letters sent to local news outlets and other campaign material.

The over a dozen letters to local newspapers are first hand member testimonies of support.  This effort has prompted local press coverage as appears in this excerpt below.

The SECU for All site includes multiple single and joint video statements from the four candidates explaining why they are running and their top priorities.   Many direct endorsements from former employees and/or current members are posted.

Other credit union CEO’s sent endorsements such as a video from Latino Credit Union’s co-founder with this intro:

The SECU member-nominated Board candidates are honored to have the endorsement of John Herrera, a true leader for the credit union cause. In addition to being a 31-year SECU member, Mr. Herrera co-founded the Latino Community Credit Union as well as serving on the NC Credit Union Commission and the National Credit Union Administration. 

Real Differences In Candidates’ Positions?

The four incumbents speak in general terms about “serving all the members,” but do not offer any specific changes or priorities that members might relate to.  It is certainly expected that incumbents would support the status quo.

The challengers have published five priorities: 

1) End Risk Based Lending. Restore the same, best rate for every member.

2) Restore competitive savings rates for every member.

3) Restore the commitment to “Do the Right Thing” for every member.

4) Restore the local focus. Local communities, local jobs, local decisions for every member.

5) Restore the employees’ faith in fairness, equal opportunity, and quality service for every member.

In addition, they question several areas of financial performance  including low share growth, the need for competitive rates, rising delinquencies and growing loan charge offs.  Some of these critiques are presented in the former CEO Jim Blaine’s blog SECU-Just Asking.

A Real Choice on Real Issues

The members’ choice between the status quo versus the challengers’ positions should certainly generate more owner interest in their credit union.  Who knew we could vote on the direction of our credit union?

Most importantly the election process will help clarify fundamental questions for SECU’s volunteers and senior management.

How does the leadership of a cooperative differ from traditional financial organizations?   What are the candidates’ views of a credit union’s fundamental purpose and unique role, if any?

Should members have to “earn”  their worth  to have an equal  standing for services?

Is the primary objective to serve the members’ needs or to promote the institution’s  market success?   As  one candidate remarked in his video, “to take care of the members, we have to take care of the organization.”  Are these duties separate or one?

For decades America’s competitive market dynamics for both individuals and organizations have promoted a culture of  “always wanting more.”  Greater growth, higher income , increased prestige and enhanced political and social power.  Outcomes that often come at the expense of others.

Both candidate groups want SECU to succeed.   The question the members will be able to address is how this greatness is going to  be defined.

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Friday Night Lights: Revisiting an American Tradition

The five-year NBC TV series Friday Night Lights was the story of a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, a small, close-knit community in rural West Texas.

But this reality actually exists all across America.  The sports seasons are a central aspect of the high school experience for most American communities.  Especially smaller ones.

For example “Coach” Walz’s role in leading his high school football team to a state championship in Minnesota may be better known than anything he did as governor.

It was with much anticipation then, that last Friday I  attended the home football game of the Rensselaer, IN, Central High School versus the visiting West Lafayette team.  What I took away was not what I expected.

Here is a photo summary of a warm midwestern autumn evening on a playing field carved from acres of cornfields.

The team’s football schedule is announced  in every store window in town, featuring just five seniors.

A senior perk: painting their reserved spaces in the school’s parking lot.

The field of football dreams and past glories- 2014 State Champions.

The team ‘s nickname and mascot: the Bombers.

Warmups.   RCHS had about 30 varsity players; Lafayette about twice that number.  Many of RCHS’s better athletes play both offense and defense.

It was senior night.   The Bombers have only five members from this class.  As the coach stated: “I play a  lot of underclassmen who only show peach fuzz (not started shaving).”  Honoring the five:

Entering the field for the game via the Bomber tunnel:

Stands not quite full.

The band presents their pregame show to the music of Mussorgsky’s  Pictures at an  Exhibition. Halftime will be used to honor all sporting seniors.

The Difference from My Era

So far the evening was similar, albeit more modern in technology, to when I was in high school.  The special occasion for this game was recognizing every senior who had participated in a varsity sport during their four years of high school.

The halftime program featured each senior’s recorded talk while walking out of the Bomber mascot with their parents.  The players’ audio summaries included their sport teams, other school activities (Sunshine Club, FFA, etc) and post high school plans such as college or other career options (eg. lineman , CDL training, or the army).

A picture that captures this entire group of at least 50 athletes escorting their parents shows a major difference from my high school days.  Sixty years ago there were just three boys sports and no athletic teams for girls in high school.

If you look closely at the photo below, more than half of the senior athletes are girls.  Rensselaer has ten teams for them:  Volleyball, basketball, tennis, cross country, track, softball, soccer, swimming, golf and yes, even wrestling.

I guess that helps one understand how  both a former football coach and a woman now run as one team for the highest political offices in America.

Change often starts at the grassroots sometimes next to farmers’ fields.  From these opportunities we develop our self confidence and aspirations for who we want to be.   The Friday Night’s experiences are now open for all of us.

PS:  For those interested in the outcome, RCHS lost 34-7.   However the players’ intensity and fight never wavered.

 

 

 

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Learning about Duty- The Example of “Grandpa” George Morgan

In my 62nd Rensselaer high school reunion last week,  I saw again some of the benefits of living in a small, rural community.

The concept of duty to others. one’s community and the country is often experienced early in life.  While there are many organizational and institutional practices that present this concept, I believe personal example is often the most powerful teacher.

Duty to country in times of war is one of our most hallowed civic commitments.  Growing up, the draft made this a potential obligation for all.  Military service was widely recognized.  In the Jasper County historical record from 1900-1985 there is a brief description of the First Presbyterian Church. The article points out that the first post WW II minister called was a former Navy Chaplain.  One of his initial acts was to make a  list of the forty-three members who had served in WW II.

That seemed like a large number.  However the local library found the Jasper County Veteran’s office had a list of 1,295  men for WWII that had the DD214 (discharge from active duty) form on file. The Service Record Book of Men and Women of Rensselaer, Indiana and Community maintained by the local American Legion Auxiliary Dewey Biggs Unit, shows a total of 1,814 who were on active duty.

Jasper County’s last Survivor of the Civil War

I believe that personal example whether a family member, mentor or public individual has a great influence for how one considers duty to country especially in times of conflict.

An example of this service calling is the life of George Morgan, who died on April 16, 1945.  His obituary called him the Last Survivor of the Civil War.  According to records 935 men from Jasper County enlisted for the Union, from a population of 5,000.

And when comparing the proportions of men able to fight, Indiana contributed more soldiers than any other state to the Union.[14]

Following are excerpts from Morgan’s obituary by Lefty Clark the editor of the local daily, the Rensselaer Republican and republished in Vintage Views.

George Morgan, who left Rensselaer that sunny August 11, 1862, as a lad of 14 and one half years to lend his bit toward the preservation of a nation torn by internal strife died at the home of his daughter at an early hour Sunday April 15. . .

One day little George, not yet possessed of the beard that distinguishes the man, made his way to a recruiting office  and by a little hedging and evasion of questions, and self-admitted fibbing managed to make the recruiting officer believe that he was ready and well able to assume the burdens of a soldier.  George Morgan at the skimpy age of 14  and one half years was now a man and a soldier at that.  He had a uniform to prove it to his parents when he returned from hi stealthy visit to the “recruiting man.” It is not chronicled that any gret storm of disapproval came from the parents. . . 

Time’s haze prevents a complete description of his military career, but the unit was not too long in Laporte.  It was sent into the Tennessee Campaign wafter some duty in Kentucky.  “Grandpa” was a participant in the Battle of Chickamauga where the Union toll was heavy but its ranks victorious.  Following that there came many minor skirmishes for Little George Morgan and his comrades nd weeks of guerilla warfare with the sniping breaking out sporadically. 

And so it went through the years of 862, 1863 and 1864 andinto the final months of the war.  The kid of fourteen and one half years not approaching 17 was keeping right up with the rest of the veteran trooper as the triumphant 87th regiment joined Sherman’s March to the sea.  It was at a military center near Washington D.C. that Mr. Morgan received his discharge papers on June 10 following the cessation of hostilities. . .”Grandpa legged it for home via a box car assigned for the transportation of troops.  He finallyed arrived in Indianapolis after a laborious journey and from there rode the “covered cars” to Bradford after which he staged-coached to Rensselaer. 

The first thing he did after reaching Rensselaer he would say, “I struck right out for home across the fields, at a dog trot, and did not stop till I reached the house.”  He said he started shouting when within range of the house, but his booming call brought no answer.  The house was empty so he started for the field.  He discovered his mother picking strawberries.  “I got me a great big bowl of freshly picked berries, stopped at the milk house and got a pitcher of cream, helped myself out of one of the containers of the sugar bag and went to work.”

The county’s last Civil War Veteran now came to town to find himself a job of work.  In those formative industrial years, he was a blacksmith’s apprentice and then a full-fledged blacksmith.  However, his is bet known fas an artisan who worked at wood working, carriage making and carpentry.  And there was a long period that he was a millwright at what ws the Babcock Hopkins elevator in Rensselaer. . .

Mr. Morgan married Mary J. Morris of Rensselaer on July 27, 1870. . .

It is interesting to note that Mr. Morgan once saw the immortal Abraham Lincoln wen the troops were reviewed by President Lincoln near Washington D.C.  it is also interesting to note that Mr. Morgan died on the day that Franklin D. Roosevelt was being buried.    He participated in all presidential elections from 1872 on.  He cast his first such ballotin 1872 for Ulysses S. Grant, his commander during the Civil War.

Mr. Morgan was the sort of the personal property of every RensselaerIan.  He became known as “Grandpa.”  All loved him.  . . A kind man, a courageous man, s msn colored with the romantic days of the wilderness and with the present day.  He was idolized and cherished as the last representative of the treasured race of man-the Civil War soldiery. . .

One Person’s Life of Duty

So honored was “Grandpa” Morgan that the local newspaper would publish periodic updates on events in his life.  A July 1, 1890 a front page article reported that he had been granted a pension.   The story noted that he was the youngest of the three Morgan brothers to volunteer and concludes with this statement: “Although so young he was a thoroughly good soldier and never shirked his full sized share of the hardships and fighting.  He well deserves the pension he gets, and a good deal more.”

On February 14, 1945, the Rensselaer Republican’s  front page story was headlined, Time Marches On, So Does Grandpa.   It was Morgan’s 97th birthday.

Morgan’s life of duty: A person of 14 who volunteered for war, raised a family. worked in the community and voted in every presidential election from Grant to FDR.

In Rensselaer we saw and experienced first hand, daily, persons who lived responsively for their families, community and country.  It is these examples we all knew and helped shape who we would become—with our own personal sense of duty.

 

 

 

 

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Jesse Owens’ Two Visits to Rensselaer

The first visit was on Friday December 17, 1937 at the National Guard Armory where he brought the professional basketball team, the Cleveland Olympians to play the Peerless Athletics from Lafayette.

The second was on April 16, 1959 to address the annual Hi-Y (high school YMCA) banquet in the Fellowship Hall at the Methodist Church.  My dad had invited Owens to speak.  I attended the event along with many of my high school sophomore classmates.

Owens’ Brief Biography

There are two extraordinary athletic achievements by Owens that are still celebrated today.

On May 25, 1935, he set three world records and tied a fourth in a span of 45 minutes during the Big Ten meet at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

At the 1936 Olympic games he won four gold medals in three individual events and as a member of the 4 by 100 relay team.  This triumph has been memorialized in numerous films which celebrate a black American’s triumph in front of Hitler and his belief in the superiority of the Aryan race.

After the games, the entire Olympic team was invited to compete in Sweden. Owens decided to capitalize on his success by returning to the United States to take up some of the more lucrative endorsement offers. United States athletic officials were furious and withdrew his amateur status, which immediately ended his career.

Owens was angry and stated that “A fellow desires something for himself.” He argued that the racial discrimination he had faced throughout his athletic career, such as not being eligible for scholarships in college and therefore being unable to take classes between training and working to pay his way, meant he had to give up on amateur athletics in pursuit of financial gain elsewhere.

Owens struggled to find work and took on menial jobs as a gas station attendant, playground janitor, and manager of a dry cleaning firm and at times resorted to racing against motorbikes, cars, trucks and horses for a cash prize.

He was prohibited from making appearances at amateur sporting events to bolster his profile, and found  commercial offers had all but disappeared. In 1937, he briefly toured with a twelve-piece jazz band and made appearances at baseball games and other events.  Hence his trip to Rensselaer.

While in town he gave free autographs at the Rensselaer Republican’s news office.   During halftime at the basketball game he put on a running exhibition.  One youngster recalling the event years later said, “it was absolutely amazing, the speed Owens possessed.”

The Second Visit

Owens tried to make a living as a sports promoter, essentially an entertainer. “There was no television, no big advertising, no endorsements then. Not for a black man, anyway.”

Owens ran a dry cleaning business and worked as a gas station attendant to earn a living, but he eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 1966, he was successfully prosecuted for tax evasion.

At rock bottom, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower enlisted Owens as a goodwill ambassador in 1955 and sent him to India, the Philippines, and Malaya to promote physical exercise.  He also promoted American freedom and economic opportunity in the developing world.

Rensselaer’s 1959 Hi-Y banquet celebrated the service club’s students’ role in the community.  There were two groups, the seniors with dates and the junior Hi-Y members with their dads.  The Rensselaer Republican’s account of Owens’ remarks is brief.

“Mr. Owens told many of his experiences then made a dramatic appeal to the young men of the Hi-Y organizations to assume positions of leadership in the community for which their Hi-Y work prepares them.” 

Two Appearances, 22 Years Apart-Did They Matter?

Owens’ first appearance was as an entertainer trying to make a living in a segregated world cut off from the traditional sources of support for other Olympic athletes.  A local family of three generations, the Bausmans, connects these two events.

Slim Bausman, the grandfather, was a successful high school coach who took his son “Dode” to see Owens run at a meet in Soldier Field in Chicago.  Dode was an exceptional athlete who set the Rensselaer high school record in the 100 yard dash at 10.2 seconds that still stands today.  And just one second slower than Owen’s world record of 9.2 seconds.

Dode and his son, Gordon, attended the 1959 banquet at which Owens spoke.  Not as an entertainer, but as a representative of core American values and leadership.  Rensselaer had no black families.  The idea of civil rights and school de-segregation had no immediate resonance for this rural farming community.   Rather he was there expressing the best of what America could be.

Did Owens’ visit in 1959 make a difference?  Two years ago after another reunion,  a classmate, Dale Garriott, sent an email asking if I recalled when Owens came to Rensselaer—and how my Dad had taken all of us to the dinner.  Did I remember anything about the event?

At last week’s reunion I found the Republican news article and an earlier description of Owens’ first visit in Vintage Views, the publication of the Jasper County Historical Society.   At our Saturday evening dinner I sat with Gordy Bausman who still lives in Rensselaer and confirmed his father’s track record—but admitted the time had been equaled by three later runners. He also recalled the Hi-Y banquet.

Examples of sports excellence and more broadly leadership success, can leave a lasting impression on upcoming generations, especially when the speaker comes from a big city, like Chicago, to a small town.  It’s a special deal.

Another name stands out from the news article.   He was a senior, who gave the invocation as the Chaplain for Hi-Y. and sung in the boys quartet that evening. Richard Scharf lettered in all three high school sports-football, basketball, and track.  He was admitted to West Point, retired as a US Army colonel, completing 27 years of commissioned service. He earned a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and Economic Planning from Stanford University and was involved in architectural engineering and construction for 15 years.

In the an article on his later career, he announces his candidacy for a seat on the Dawson County Board of Commissioners, Georgia with this statement:

Scharf is also interested in the welfare of our next generation. “We need to ensure that we make provisions for the young people in the county,” he says, and asks, “How do we give them some options for the future?” 

A native of Indiana, Scharf says that he grew up in a small rural community, the son of a college coach and athletic director and, while he’s not a farmer, he “understands the rigors of those who provide for the rest of us.” 

As a board member, I will be an active and focused team player, able to add an experienced rational outlook on the infrastructure challenges we are facing and help the board remain focused on the community’s future. My goal is to do the right things to achieve long-term community viability.

An example of a leader’s ongoing contributions that Owens had spoken to, formed by his Rensselaer experiences.

 

 

 

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Rensselaer’s  Welcoming Wagon

What makes a community for most is finding groups and activities  to which one can belong.  From the initial days as a Brownie or cub scout, to the morning coffee conversations at a local café in retirement, finding social connection makes life worth living.

In my recent high school reunion, some classmates meet for coffee every morning around the old St Joe College fountain on the edge of town.  Others volunteer at the library, the Historical Society or still attend church on Sundays.   Being with others after raising families or a lifetime of work is vital to one’s well-being.

The Founding of the Welcome Wagon

In November 1957 the town of Rensselaer formalized the process of welcoming new residents in an inaugural meeting forming a Welcome Wagon Club.   The monthly meetings were to greet the newest members in town and introduce them to some “pioneer” residents who could brief them on getting to know the city in a minimum of time.

The meeting was led by the club’s Hostess, Marietta Henry, a community leader who presented the newly formed organization’s  purpose.  Then several representatives described different aspects of the town.  George Long (owner of Long’s Drug store) gave a history of the city’s past.  Then Mayor Hanley talked about present-day Rensselaer.   Rev. Charles W. Filson (my dad) welcomed the group on behalf of the city’s churches.

The sixty-three attendees, most wearing their Sunday best, were then photographed with all the names listed below the picture.  In the foreground are welcome baskets filled with items from the town’s local merchants.

The Importance of  Being Welcoming

In many ways Rensselaer was and is a stable community.  Change does occur; however the economic farming base and land ownership does not lead to dramatic population turnover either in or out.  Bringing in new residents is still key to maintaining a viable economic and diverse demographic social base.

The Welcome Wagon is a concept inspired by the Conestoga “welcome wagons” that provided food and water to travelers moving west.  The concept was the basis for the organization founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1928 by Thomas Briggs, Think of the Welcome (Wells Fargo) Wagon song from the Music Man which greeted Harold Hill’s band instrument delivery into town.

Small towns are more intimate than cities and suburbs.  Everybody knows most everyone else, or if necessary, someone who does know them.   Family history and connections will go back for three, even four generations.  One of the organizers of our reunion, where we are all at or near 80, still visits her mother daily who is 102.

Local  community groups and activities provide a grounding that can prepare one for life and importantly, opportunities beyond a small town.  For it is the values,  commitments, mentors and work ethic that will settle in and carry one into the bigger world beyond.

The learnings essential for life and a worldly welcome wherever one settles down are an enduring foundation for the graduates of small town America.

 

 

 

 

 

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You Can’t Go Home Again

Or so said Thomas Wolf, the novelist.   But you can visit with the perspective of years and see what makes small towns in the Midwest a special place in many people’s lives

I just returned from my 62nd high school reunion in Rensselaer, IN.  A journey of nostalgia but also discovery and learning.  While I only lived there for five years, from middle school through the first 21/2 years of high school, they were formative in ways one can only see later.

At the moment two Vice Presidential candidates talk about their small-town roots.  One does so with joyful remembrances of people knowing and looking after each other.  An experience of community that orients one to what matters in life.  The second is a somewhat darker story of the problems and poverty in rural America.

My return visit was filled with multiple conversations with people continuing to make this farming town of around 5,000 a place for understanding how community matters and its role in instilling the  special American spirit of enterprise and duty.

I will share events such as the Friday Night Lights Senior recognition during half time at the Bomber’s football game vs. West Lafayette; the two visits Jesse Owens made to Rensselaer ; the grave of the first woman ordained in any part of the Methodist church in 1866; and Brigadier General Millroy who criticized the Union’s West Point Generals at the battle of Bull Run apparently in the presence of the President and the Secretary of War, Stanton.

The Worldly Education of Small-Town Life

Rich Kupke is not a name that readily comes to mind unless one recalls he was one of over 100 American hostages held for 444 days in Iran.   He came back home to a hero’s welcome in Indiana.  After retiring from the State Department he settled in Rensselaer where he had grown up and graduated from high school.

His return to Rensselaer is explained in this article about his post hostage  life:  Former Iranian Hostage Relishes Quieter Life Today

Even after his Iranian captors finally released the hostages in early 1981, Kupke continued working overseas in Thailand, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico. “I was one of the first who went back overseas. The type of people I worked with, being an ex-hostage wasn’t a big topic that came up all the time,” he said. “It helped not to make it bigger than it was. I always disagreed with the psychiatrist who talked about post-traumatic stress happening five to 10 years later. I told him he was planting that in people’s minds. He got mad at me for disagreeing with him.”

If there is one lingering effect for Kupke, it’s in the way he’s often presented to new acquaintances in Rensselaer. “I’m often introduced as, ‘The former hostage in Iran.’ But most people go out of their way not to have me rehash the whole story. That’s a nice part of being in a small town.” 

Divorced in 1991, Kupke has been a single father ever since to his two sons. The three of them lived together in Jamaica and Mexico, but when the boys neared high-school age, their father figured there was only one place to continue their worldly education. “I was born here and went to high school here, and I thought it would be an excellent place for my boys to go to school. Back home in Indiana,” he said.

In addition to watching over 15-year-old James and 14-year-old Bill, Kupke keeps busy as a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels. He also works part-time six days a week at the Jasper County Animal Shelter while waiting to hear about the possibility of returning to a stockbroker position. The only connection to his State Department days is the book he started writing a few months ago — a fictionalized account of a foreign service officer who faces one dramatic situation after another while traveling from country to country, based on his own experiences.

“Rensselaer is just an outstanding place to live. I couldn’t have made a better decision,” he said. “My life is a little slower these days. I don’t need to rush. I’m taking time to smell the daisies. Or is it the roses?” 

Life and Truth in It

Maybe quieter in some respects but life is no less purposeful.   Rensselaer epitomizes being in a community.   For it is in living with others that we find meaning and self-worth.

Thomas Wolf wrote:  Telling the truth is a pretty hard thing. And in a young man’s first attempt, with the distortions of his vanity, egotism, hot passion, and lacerated pride, it is almost impossible. “Home to Our Mountains” was marred by all these faults and imperfections…[Webber] did know that it was not altogether a true book. Still, there was truth in it.

I will share some stories of individuals shaped by this small town experience. One is about the Rensselaer High School Senior in 1937 who set the school record for the 100 yard dash, which still stands at 10.2 seconds. He met with Jesse Owens in 1937.  His grandson attended a Hi-Y banquet in 1959 at the First Methodist Church where Owens was the featured speaker, 22 years later.   Or the obituary of the last surviving Rensselaer soldier from the civil war who volunteered at 14 in 1861 and died in 1945-a sense of duty that carries on still today.