100 years – “no mean feat” a cause for celebration
It was described ‘as no mean feat’ as the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) today, Friday, celebrated the land mark existence which comes on Sunday, November 19, 2017 at its branch offices in Brades.
Clients, customers and well-wishers joined in the celebration with members of the local staff as well as visiting officials of the RBC family.
Branch manager Miss Lucille Irish was excited to be a part of the history of the bank as she recalls her own time with the bank. “It’s been an experience for me,” she said. “I came from town (the buried Plymouth) as a teller… I worked myself right up to being the bank’s manager right now. It’s been a challenge but it has been a good one,” she continued as she praised her support. “I had good strong support right throughout RBC with my boss, with the managing director, being my strength, my power and staff here and everybody throughout RBC.”
Visiting RBC Managing director and marketing head, personal banking of the Eastern Caribbean, Isaac Solomon, along with Regional vice president, Southern Caribbean Roger Cogel, were also on hand for the occasion.
Isaac spoke to the press in a very brief interview, aired live as Radio Montserrat obliged with their outdoor crew, setting up its broadcast for the middle of the day, morning into the afternoon, in the reception area of the Bank.
“It is a real pleasure for me to be here in Montserrat. So first of all let me thank the citizens of Montserrat our employees past and present and the business community citizens, who would have collaborated over those one hundred years,” he said.
“I want to say special thanks for your loyalty, he continued. “So 100 hundred-year milestone is significant by any measure, being many of us wouldn’t get to that age. And so for us to be celebrating 100 years of service to the people of Montserrat, is indeed significant.”
The MD on behalf of the bank recognized one of its longest serving members Erica Gibbs during the celebrations. Branch manager Irish introduced: “We’re going to give a presentation to Dr. Barbara Erica Gibbs. She’s one of our oldest clients; she’s been active, she actually comes to the bank and do all her banking still, so we’re going to give her a little token of appreciation and it will be presented by Mr. Solomon and Mr. Cogel.
In presenting the token gift, Solomon spoke to Mrs Gibbs: “We want to thank you for your many years of loyalty. We wouldn’t have recognized that in spite of the fact that we’re here for one hundred years… there’s a significant part of that one hundred you were a part, one of our clients and we really want to thank you for your loyalty. It gives us great pleasure to show our appreciation by presenting this token to you today.”
Mrs. Gibbs wife of a former Administrator in Montserrat, responded with an explanation. “My husband and I came to Montserrat in 1964-65, he came in a hurry because the administrator who he was taken from was sick. Then I followed him with two children in 1965. We opened our account in 64 and you can work that out.” She then expressed her elation. “Well this is very, very special and unexpected,” she concluded.
The bank’s 100-year celebrations saw the Montserrat Children Society receiving a boost of cash. Mrs. Helena Dorsette received the donation delivered to her by the branch manager, Lucille Irish, in direct support of the Society’s support for the Dominica hurricane relief fund as the president and others of the society host Dominica children in Montserrat.
Throughout the day as Radio Montserrat broadcast live with JGP (George Piper), from the bank’s offices as he kept everyone listening, on location and the airwaves, with live interviews and brief intervention with local entertainers. There were lots of refreshments on the outside to include the national dish, the ever-popular goat water.
