As a longtime resident and patron of our local bank, Pine River Valley Bank as I know it, or whatever else they want to call it now, Community Banks of Colorado, I feel it a necessity to tell you how they view a community.

My parents, Butch and Patty Prior, have cleaned that bank for 35-plus years, all the way back to when the now liquor store was the only bank in town. My parents used the job as an additional income to try and raise four kids on a teacher's salary and an in-home daycare, as well as a way to teach my two sisters and brother about the value of hard work.

During each of our four years in high school we would clean the bank nightly to earn the insurance on our first cars, in addition to the various school activities we were in that cost money.

We spent a few hours every night keeping the bank clean. Sometimes as a treat, our mom would clean by herself so that we could have a night off.

These days, it was their supplemental retirement income. This bank, that my family can all thank for the years of working there, is no longer the same bank. After 35-plus years of cleaning said bank, the bank decided to go with a different cleaning service after my parents had submitted a bid for the job, for $400 LESS per month then they currently made to try and keep the job.

How did they tell them? A certified letter from a gentleman who has never met or spoke with my parents.

My parents took pride in that job and always kept that place spotless. I suggest the whole community now leave that bank spotless and move your business elsewhere. That's not a "community" to me.

Kevin Prior

Bayfield