Lamar bank celebrates 100th birthday with dinner for the town
LAMAR, Mo. — Lamar Bank and Trust marked its 100th birthday by providing dinner for everyone in the community Wednesday.
The bank was founded March 25, 1925, as Lamar Trust Co., and it has planned a number of activities throughout 2025 to celebrate the milestone. On March 25, the bank provided cake at its location at 1000 Broadway, on the northeast corner of the Lamar square.
Despite intermittent light rain Wednesday evening, hundreds of people turned out on the streets and in the new Wyatt Earp Park across the street from the bank for the free dinner, T-shirts and other items.
'The Metro Club, they're well-known around town for their barbecue, they serve once a year at the Lamar Free Fair and they're here tonight serving barbecue to our community,' said Crystal Wolfe, director of marketing and communication for Lamar Bank and Trust. 'We're handing out our free T-shirts and we've got some swag items. We've got a newspaper we put out on the rich history of LBT. But it's just a time to get together with our community and show our appreciation.'
Bank President and CEO Pat O'Neal, a third-generation banker at Lamar Bank and Trust, said the celebration marks the past as well as the future for the bank, including the construction of a branch in Lockwood, the bank's first branch outside Lamar.
'We're here celebrating 100 years. We've been one location, one town, one branch for 100 years,' O'Neal said. 'We've been located at a few various places around the square, and we've been at 10th Street and Broadway since 1971. We're opening our first branch in Lockwood ... in the fall. We believe in supporting our community as evident by what we're doing here today. It's the community who supports us so we believe in giving back, having fun and doing stuff like this.'
Senior Vice President Kent Morey gave a three-minute talk to the crowd about the anniversary, including the bank's role in the community.
'Our history is more than just dates; it's people,' Morey said. 'We currently have 37 employees in Lamar, Lockwood and Springfield. Some of you may not know we have a loan production office in Springfield and a loan production office in Lockwood. We have had, throughout the history of the bank, nine different presidents of the bank. Today, we stand in the Wyatt Earp Park supported by donation from the LBT Foundation. We're proud to give back to our community. We gave 20 scholarships this year, and we look to expand that in the Lamar, Golden City, Liberal and Lockwood areas. We support our next generation in agriculture. ...
'As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we're going to announce we are going to renovate a park shelter at Lamar City Park.'
One of those enjoying the free dinner in the park was Brian Williams, a farmer in rural Barton County who also works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
'It's pretty unique that they've been here 100 years, the same bank passed down from generation to generation,' Williams said. 'The owners and customers have been working together generation to generation. The people here know the community. They know who we are and how things work. They understand what we need.'
Tom Main, who served as bank president from 2005-2014, said being locally owned and having local people who make all the decisions is an advantage in a small community.
'I worked at another bank here in town that was locally owned, and then it sold and all of a sudden most of the decisions were transferred out,' Main said. 'Then I came across to here and went to work, and it was like night and day. Why is it important? Because the people live here, work here, all the decisions are made here, their families are here. You can see here at this party the local people who know each other. And a lot of these people wouldn't be our customers if we weren't locally owned.'
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