14
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
September 2013
Clackamas
County Bank
www.clackamascountybank.com
S A N D Y O F F I C E
503-668-5501
B O R I N G O F F I C E
503-663-3000
H O O D L A N D O F F I C E
503-622-3131
G R E S H A M O F F I C E
503-665-9444
Member
In 1911, when
Clackamas County
Bank began its
long service to the
Sandy community, the bank building was quite small.
Not only does the Clackamas County Bank of 2013 have a two-
level building that stretches nearly a city block, but the community
bank also has satellite branches in Welches, Boring and Gresham.
Besides the obvious – people riding to the bank in their horse-
drawn carriage or Model T – banks have changed over the past
100 years.
“Of the many things that have in uenced banking during this
century,” said Julie Snell, executive vice president of Clackamas
County Bank, “regulations and technology have probably had the
most impact.”
As the banking industry evolved, she said, there were few banking
standards and regulations. Bank employees knew their customers
and probably their families as well. In fact, Snell said Clackamas
County Bank used to make some loans on a handshake and
sometimes took cattle as collateral.
But not today. As the customer base has changed, so have
banking industry standards. Federal and state agencies have
added regulations that require new processes within each bank.
Now, bank examiners evaluate a bank’s performance against
the industry’s best standards. Customers are required to provide
much more nancial and even personal information, Snell said.
Times have changed.
The new technology has opened many options for customers,
Snell said, especially the younger on-the-go generation.
With online and mobile banking, a customer no longer needs to
come into a bank – especially if they are out of town. A customer
can check balances, transfer between accounts and, with a smart
phone, make a deposit by taking a photo of the check and transfer
it directly into their bank account.
But for those customers who prefer the personal touch – a teller to
talk with, a deposit receipt, cash in the hand and a friendly person
answering the phone – Clackamas County Bank has the answer.
Beginning with a single branch in Sandy in 1911, CCB now has
four branches for convenience.
After 102 years in business, Snell says CCB is the oldest community
bank in Oregon and has an abundance of capital assets.
Bank managers say they believe CCB’s plentiful assets will help
the bank serve local nancial needs for another 100 years.
CCB uses technology, but maintains personal touch
With a 102-year history, Clackamas County Bank is involved in the community
exhibit committee meetings as he unreeled
his memories and just be trans xed, hanging
on his every syllable.”
If Mershon was the encyclopedia, then
committee member Steve Lehl is the attic.
Lehl began collecting Columbia Gorge
memorabilia as a garbage man finding
treasures in the trash in Portland’s West Hills.
He has made his collection available for the
exhibit.
“And to think that it began by saving things
that people in the West Hills put out with the
trash,” marvels Jeanette Kloos, committee
member. Kloos herself is a treasure.
Originally assigned to work with the state’s
historic highway committee, she was
instrumental in launching restoration of the
shattered parts of the road for biking and
hiking. A new section of the restored route
opens Sept. 15.
Committee member Sue Handy marvels
that the hometown highway is so famous: “I
was unaware that the Historic Columbia
River Highway is recognized by the
American Society of Civil Engineers as a
Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, one of
256 worldwide designations including The
Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, Golden Gate
Bridge, Washington Monument, and the
Panama Canal. It was the first Scenic
Highway built in America, is listed as a
Historic Scenic Byway, All American Road
and the list goes on.”
Her husband Greg, who grew up at the
family gas station serving highway motorists,
observes that the 1914 Latourell Bridge, was
one of the rst reinforced concrete bridges in
Oregon and continues to carry traf c nearly
100 years after it was constructed.
“That certainly is a tribute to our history
and especially to those that have worked
hard to preserve and restore this bridge and
the Old Historic Columbia River Scenic
Highway.”
Next door to the Handy gas station, a
young man from Corbett named Ignatius
Wand opened a fruit and vegetable stand to
draw highway motorists. It was there that he
met a young woman, wooing her by giving
her some withering lemons to make a pie.
He and Alice had, among many children,
a daughter, Helen Wand, who is on the
exhibit committee and head of the fund-
raising effort to build the exhibit.
“It’s a big gulp,” she admits, trying to raise
money. So far the group has raised about
$25,000. More events are coming up.
Donations can be made to the highway
exhibit through the Troutdale Historical
Society, 219 E. Historic Columbia River
Highway, Troutdale, OR 97060.
Highway from page 11
Gloria and Len Otto attend the “Party for a Bridge,” held April 20, 2013,
celebrating the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Troutdale Bridge,
which spans the Sandy River. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: Keith Eisele
A car crosses over Latourell Bridge in the Columbia River Highway. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: Clarence Mershon collection
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