Camp Courageous is grateful to Farmers State Bank, for their decades of support, and in particular, their support of the ‘Camp Courageous Camper T-Shirt Program’.  Every camper, who attends Camp Courageous, receives a free t-shirt…and we are talking thousands.  The t-shirt is a keepsake that is treasured by each camper.  Presenting the check are three wonderful individuals, all extremely active in the community and giving back.  (L-R) Gene Neighbor, Chief Wealth Officer of the Wealth Management Division of FSB; Steve Neighbor, President & CEO of FSB; and Kent Neighbor, Chair of the Board of FSB.  Being locally owned and family-owned is at the core of FSB’s foundation.  FSB supports many local Iowa organizations by volunteering thousands of hours and donating thousands of dollars annually.

Memories…  I had the good fortune to know Morris Neighbor, who lived to be 100, and his wife Betty.  They had 3 sons Kent, Doug, & Gene. Just the nicest, kindest, family one could ever meet.  Integrity and service to others, were key to the Neighbor Family throughout the generations.  Steve is the son of Kent.  I remember many years ago Steve and his wife, Amy, bringing their little girls to Camp Courageous, because they thought it was important, at the girl’s earliest age, to experience what Camp Courageous was all about.  This precious experience lodged in my memory all these years as an example of a truly wonderful family experience…

Memories…  Back in May of 1980, Dr. Earl DeShaw started the Camp Courageous Perpetual Fund.  He quickly gathered friends like Jim Maurice from the Monticello State Bank to be Treasurer and Wilfred N. (Shelly) Shellenbarger from Farmers State Bank in Marion to be a board member. Like the Neighbors, Shelly was a first-class gentleman…a person of impeccable integrity.   From 1954-until Shelly’s retirement in 1968 he was president of Farmers State Bank in Marion…and served as director of the board until 1982.  He had been at Walford, Lone Tree and Harwick before Marion.  Shelly and his wife, Lucille, were keen on providing Camp Courageous, things the average person would not want to donate.  For example, 100% of the furniture, including files and desks for the Camp’s main office were provided by the Shellenbargers.  Shelly would be so proud that the foundation of FSB holds true as much today, as it did during those early years.

All good & precious memories….   -cwb

Board President, at the time, (R) Dr. Lyman Perkins, presents (L) Wilfred (Shelly) Shellenbarger with the Camp’s Honorary Board Award.

(L-R) Dotty Cummins presents Lucille Shellenbarger with the Camp’s Honorary Board Award.