by Madison V. Fisler
June 16, 2014. On Friday, June 20, Life Store will celebrate 75 years of building relationships with the local communities beginning at 11:30 a.m. The day will include fun, refreshments and even door prizes at LifeStore Bank and Insurance in Boone and at all other LifeStore locations.
LifeStore began in 1939 as the Ashe Building and Loan Association, which was started by West Jefferson businessman Glenn B. Graybeal.
At first, the organization offered mainly home loans, but later added savings options in 1951 when the business transitioned from Ashe Building and Loan to Ashe Savings and Loan. In 1982 the organization became Ashe Federal Savings and Loan, and the name was later changed to Ashe Federal Bank, and then to AF Bank, and then again to AF Financial Group.
To better address customer’s needs, the bank started to include insurance and investment services to its clients in Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga, Surry, Wilkes, and Caldwell Counties. In September 2009, the company changed names once again to its current title – LifeStore.
On Friday, all LifeStore locations will be participating in a celebration to commemorate three quarters of a century in business. At each LifeStore location, including the branch in Boone, a celebration will be held featuring snacks, music and door prizes.
“We have a nostalgia theme for everything,” said Judy Current of LifeStore Marketing and Public Relations Director.
“We will have nostalgic snacks like moon pies and glass bottled sodas. There will even be door prizes, and a lot of people will dress up in vintage clothing!”
The West Jefferson location will offer something special.
“This is where it started and where our corporate office is at,” Current said. “We are having a 75th Anniversary ceremony that will start at 11 a.m. The ceremony will entail a number of speakers and local dignitaries who will make some remarks. We will reflect a bit on the past and talk about some of our successes and we will talk a bit about the future.”
The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and is expected to last 30 minutes.
For more information about LifeStore, click here.
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