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2016 Election: Miasma, Malaise, and Melancholia Winston Churchill in 1947 famously said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." During the past 18 months of daily mudslinging from the candidates for this nation’s highest office, Americans might wonder about Churchill’s comments and have serious con- cerns whether our democratic form of government can survive such crude, nasty, and threatening behavior that has debased our election processes. History reminds us that the 2016 Presidential election marked by its degrading vulgarity is not a ‘one-off’ phenomenon. In fact, past presidential elections have been pockmarked by numerous loutish candidates since the 18th century. So, we can take some reassurance in that our representa- tive form of democracy has proved remarkably durable since its founding in 1776. And for well over two centuries since the adoption of the Constitution in 1788, our nation has withstood often fractious, disagreeable, and disgraceful Presidential elections, but always secured by the ultimate authority of the Constitution. I suspect most of the 130 million Americans who will vote in the November 8 Presidential election are like me and have been filled with a malaise of frustration and disappointment, even melancholia, during the past year or more of progressively personal attacks by our nation’s ill- mannered Presidential candidates. Beginning with the primary elections throughout the country and now continuing in a barrage of nastiness in the general election campaigns, we have been subjected to a daily barrage of vitriolic comments from the candidates and the media. Television, newsprint, and the internet are filled with the most salacious and intimate details of the major candidates’ lives, dominating the news cycles with a miasma that seeps into our daily living in a putrid and noxious fog of hate and anger. Whether we like it or not, our nation and our world are changing and we are changing with it. America remains a melting pot, welcoming people from many different countries, races, and reli- gions, all searching for freedom, opportunities, and a better life. Despite our differences, we are all Americans, living together in the Land of the Free, bound by the privilege of voting. Whatever your voting preferences will be in the November 8 election, you are likely dissatisfied with the available Presidential candidates. Nevertheless, it is your duty to join the 130 million of your fellow Americans who will exercise their sacred consti- tutional right to elect the leaders of our country. As Thanksgiving approaches, realize that we have much to be thankful for as American citizens. R. Darryl Fisher, MD Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board OHB’s New Roff Manager VP Mark Harrel Recalls His Life and Career in Oklahoma Growing up in rural southwestern Garvin county near Pernell, a town of a few hundred good Oklahoma people about 8 miles from Elmore City, I was blessed to live on our family farm and be the oldest of five children. My brothers and sisters and I all attended Pernell Schools from which I graduated in ’82. My dad worked for a few years in banking and during one of the oil-boom cycles he started an oilfield-service company that became quite successful, with several offices throughout the state. But mom was insistent that I not go to work in the oil field, so after I received my Business Administration degree in 1986 at East Central I took my first banking job in Maysville. Ever since then I have worked in banking, in small towns like Roff, usually as branch manager of smaller community banks, similar to OHB-Roff. Like most Oklahoma bankers of a certain age, I have been exposed to the up and down cycles of agriculture and energy. This life expe- rience combined with my 30+ years in banking has given me insight into the opportunities and the dangers for my customers. I still live southwest of Elmore City, now in my grandparent’s vintage home. Living there has allowed me to raise my children in the same area where I grew up and love to call home. I have two kids, but they aren’t really kids any longer (24 and 22). My son, a senior at East Central University, will graduate this spring. My daughter and her husband teach at nearby Bray, another small Oklahoma community of about a thousand. They’ve just brought to this world a 2-month-old daughter who is my first grandchild, and needless to say Miss Parker is already in charge of her smitten Papa. I am delighted to join OHB, and I am looking forward to meeting and serving many new friends with the better brand of banking that OHB is known for. For my new friends I haven’t yet met and for all my longtime friends, let’s meet at OHB whenever you are near or if you prefer, give me a call at any time if I can be of help in any way. Here’s my cellphone number: 405-831-9230. All of us at OHB want to be your banker. OHB’s Skip-A-Loan Payment Can Provide Holiday Cash Can you see your family running short on cash for Christmas presents and holiday travel? OHB has been helping its loan customers for many years to enjoy the holiday season by means of an easy way to free up some cash for holiday spending. Each December and January, OHB offers its Skip-A-Payment plan so that our loan customers can skip their regular December or January payment for auto and personal loans. OHB’s Skip-A-Payment program gives you the chance to skip a monthly payment on an OHB auto or personal loan and to add that amount to the end of your loan without impacting your credit rating. Check with us at any of our four locations. Certain restrictions and fees apply (the Skip-a-Pay- ment plan is not available for mortgage loans). We Will Offer You a Better CD Deal! by Billy Norton, Sr. VP/Chief Credit Officer For several months I have been encouraging friends and neighbors to call me directly on my cellphone (580-759-6508) or come by any of our four locations so that we can show you how you can earn more interest on your bank CDs. Volume 9, Issue 5 November 2016 OHB Certificate of Deposits V ERY B EST Interest Rates Call 580.235.0205 During his first week as OHB-Roff location manager Mark Harrel greets longtime Roff resident and OHB customer Charles Morrow in front of the OHB-Roff bank building. On a perfect October Saturday, friends and families from surrounding towns converged on the Main drag in front of OHB-Roff for the town’s annual fall Oktoberfest Celebration, as has been the custom in Roff for 25 years. With vehicular traffic detoured, the roadway in front of the bank became a fair ground of food vendors, live music, and arts/crafts sellers, along with a parade of fire trucks, police cars, 4H’ers, cheerleaders, floats, horseback riders, and ATVs. James Elliott used his riding mower to pull his kiddy train to the delight of his young passengers throughout the several hours of midday festivities.
