Baylake Bank and Local Students Send Priceless Boxes to Local Soldier Serving in Iraq

(June 5, 2006 - Sturgeon Bay, WI) -Boxes of crackers and Betty Crocker Warm Delights, stacks of magazines and puzzle books, hundreds of breakfast bars, and thousands of Lifesavers are on their way from Door County to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25 (the Seabees) at Al Asad Air Base, west of Fallujah in Iraq. While the contents of the boxes may appear to be valued at only a few dollars each, the heart that went into packing them made the shipment worth far more than could be measured by USPS insurance rates.

The Southern Door fourth graders who helped Baylake Bank employees pack 25 boxes of goodies for U.S. soldiers had a very real connection to the work they were doing, since they were packed for classmate Cal McCarty’s dad, Mike, and Mike’s fellow soldiers. Mike and his battalion have been overseas since March, so Cal and his classmates have been learning for several months what it is like to be far apart from a loved one. “It was so neat to see my friends putting something together for my dad and his friends. I wish I could be there when they open the boxed so I could see the looks on their faces!” Cal said.

The boxes were just as significant for the Baylake employees, who work with Mike’s wife, Paula. “At the Baylake Bank Main Office in Sturgeon Bay, we decide how to use the money from the vending machines in our staff lounge, and at this time it seemed especially appropriate to use it for our soldiers overseas,” said Baylake Bank employee Brenda Hawkey. “It’s personal for us because Paula works for the bank’s Marketing Department. It’s personal for my family because my daughter Megan and son Trevor are in the same grades as the McCarty boys.”

Baylake Bank employees Becky Claflin and Lois Schubert-Brown also worked on the packages, as did three special second graders: Claflin’s son Alex, Hawkey’s son Trevor, and Mike and Paula’s younger son Deven. “It was important to me to show my own son the value of honoring our soldiers overseas,” Claflin explained. “Alex, Trevor, and Deven often talk about Mike and his responsibilities as a soldier. I’m very excited that Baylake Bank was able to do this and the kids were able to help.”

Mike McCarty, who lives with his family in Brussels and is a partner in the land surveying, soil testing, and engineering firm of Baudhuin Incorporated, was activated the first week of January. He is an Engineering Assistant 1st Class in the Naval Reserve Seabees. He is currently in charge of rebuilding runways and bridges among many other tasks. His battalion is expected home in October of this year.

Baylake Bank serves its communities from 27 financial centers in Brown, Door, Green Lake, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Outagamie, Waupaca, and Waushara counties, and from its website at www.baylake.com. The company is the title sponsor of the Baylake Bank Tall Ship Festival coming in July 2006. Festival information is available at www.tallshipgreenbay.com.