Midlantic Reunion Oct 9, 2010

PNC announced it was buying Midlantic for $3 Billion in stock in July 1995. That announcement and the eventual consolidation of office and branch functions resulted in hundreds of employees losing their jobs or leaving the company. I was one of the people who eventually left for a better opportunity.

On October 9, 2010, at Miami Mike's Sports Bar (Ramada Inn) in East Hanover, NJ approximately 33 former Midlantic Bank employees met to share an evening after close to 14 years of not working together. The gathering resulted from a website I created in January 2009, where former employees could reconnect and share pictures. In the ensuing 21 months 150 former employees of the bank joined the website. Of that number 33 were able to attend the reunion.

There were people representing various departments of the bank, but the majority of the people who attended the reunion worked in either check processing or information technology. There were also a few people from the comptroller’s area. When my wife Valerie and I arrived at the function there was a pleasant buzz in the air as everyone reconnected and shared old memories with each other about their time at the bank as well as bringing each other up-to-date on current events. It was both exciting and sad to learn about some employees; some had passed away while others were not in good health.

We ate and drank and even had time for two contests: who had the longest tenure at Midlantic/PNC and who travelled the furthest to the reunion that night. The first contest was won by Patricia Loprete. She remains an employee of PNC Bank and has a total of 42 years with the company. The second contest was won by Jim and Sandy Blanda. They travelled approximately 80 miles to attend the reunion. I had asked everyone to contribute two dollars to the contests so we were able to collect a total of $60. Patricia Loprete received $20 and Jim and his wife Sandy received $20. We donated the balance of the money collected ($20) to Patricia Barrere who is a member of The American Cancer Society and is a cancer survivor herself. Special thanks to Jim and Sandy Blanda, and Patricia Loprete who donated their prize money to Patricia Barrere as a donation to the Cancer Society. Patrica Barrere was thrilled that she received a total of $60 as a contribution to The American Cancer Society from her former Midlantic coworkers.

Indeed, it was a special night. We hope to meet again soon.