Welcome to Autumn – officially – although the weather of late still feels a bit like the previous season. So what! The fall fun is underway in many of our communities, and looking at the November Calendar, it is time to start planning for your Thanksgiving meal. It’s been a year to truly give thanks for what is most important in our lives: our families, our freedoms, our health, and our traditions.
Whatever November holds for you, we are here to provide you with the guidance you need to plan for the coming holidays, to express our gratitude to our members, and to enjoy the first fall of snow together. Happy Birthday North Dakota, and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Meet Bonnie Locken
Of all the qualities we love about our members, the sense of community we feel ties us to our membership, but in the case of Bonnie Locken, it brought her to work for Dakota West.
Nearly thirty years ago, after losing her husband, the credit union reached out to her knowing she and her small children needed a financial boost to her part-time job. It was more than keeping her safe and secure, she recalls, "They wanted the kids to stay." The humor she uses to describe her first job at Dakota West continues to be a part of her welcoming smile and personality as the Regional Operations Manager at our Mohall location.
Born and raised in North Dakota, she always wanted to study interior design, but went to school to be a dental assistant. In the end, her creative touches can be felt in the branch and in the community that welcomed her. She sews, she restores furniture, and she designs and sells her own creations of purses and handbags.
Helping those who helped her brings her joy in the ways she can help our members. Bonnie recalls helping someone in her community who came to the branch in tears, worried about the family's debt, whom she helped get a small personal loan. "It made me feel amazing, watching the weight of the world lifted off their shoulders."
Bonnie celebrates her birthday this month among the friends and community that opened its arms to her, and calls her one of their own even today. If you stop into our Mohall branch this month, be sure to wish her best wishes - it's what she wishes for all of the people in Mohall who opened their arms to her and kept her close to their town and their hearts.
