Fayette Bank receives national honor
Local editorials from 50 years ago are being reprinted every Monday and Tuesday in this column. This editorial appeared in the Evening Standard, a predecessor of the Herald-Standard, on June 5, 1967.
Another honor has come to Uniontown.
The Fayette Bank and Trust Co. is one of the 20 winners of the first nationwide “Business in the Arts Awards” competition sponsored by Esquire Magazine.
These 20 winners, ranging from international corporations to comparatively small local businesses, have been honored for taking part in imaginative programs to bring the fine and the performing arts to wider audiences on the community level.
The magazine’s press release on the awards said it like this: “The achievements cited varied greatly in scope and included American Airlines’ sponsorship of “American Youth Performs” symphonic and choral concerts, the activities of Macy’s New York in bringing outstanding cultural events to the attention of a vast metropolitan audience, and the program of the Fayette Bank and Trust Co., Uniontown, Pa., establishing an art exhibition on bank premises and sponsoring an annual concert series in the high school auditorium.”
The entries were chosen on the basis of company involvement in the cultural life of the American community.
A notable panel of cultural and business leaders made the selections. Esquire conceived the awards as a means of focusing national attention on projects developed by business for the fine and performing arts. The objective was to increase corporate financial support.
Esquire said that if corporations would allocate for cultural activities just one-half of one percent of the five percent tax deduction allowable, this would generate $250 million annually for the arts, 10 times the current contributions.
When Fayette Bank remodeled its banking rooms an Exhibit Lounge and Community Service Hall were constructed. The Exhibit Hall now provides the overall Uniontown district with its own personal exhibit area where the community can see everything from the Old Masters to modern sculpture.
The bank’s Community Service Hall is another innovation that has been accepted with profound gratification by the community. Civic groups and business organizations constantly use the facilities.
The other part of fhe Esquire Award praises the bank for underwriting the sponsoring of an annual concert series of the Uniontown Community Concert Association. Now residents of the area can hear and see some of the famed vocalists, musicians and orchestras at a nominal cost. By underwriting the concerts it permits the association to plan for the future and secure outstanding artists.
The bank has received much recognition in its own banking circles. Now it has obtained national acclaim in a field where its community action has been praised. What the area has been appreciating enthusiastically has reached national horizons.
The community proudly shares in the bank’s latest honors.