Arlene Tracht, Palm Harbor Honorary Mayor, Patriot Bank Vice President and Customer Service Manager

Article published in the Palm Harbor Beacon, May 2013

By KERRY SCHOFIELD

PALM HARBOR – As a bank vice president and a person very active in her community, Arlene Tracht seems like the perfect fit for an honorary mayor of Palm Harbor.

Tracht, who has been with Patriot Bank for seven years and a chamber member for 20 years, was elected honorary mayor of Palm Harbor in October. The Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce awards the title.

Candidates raise money for the Chamber Foundation and for a nonprofit charity of their choice. The foundation is educational and provides scholarships for teachers and students and for monthly luncheons.

“The chamber has been very good to me,” Tracht said. “I’ve made a lot of good friends having held almost every single position in the chamber, and I’ve gotten the name out about a very small community bank.”

During the mayor’s race last year, Tracht raised over $3,000 for the charity of her choice, Art for Autism. The proceeds were distributed equally among the charity and the Foundation. Tracht hosted a dinner party at the bank and presented the check to the charity’s spokesperson.

“It was very moving for me,” said Tracht. “The money is being used for a very good purpose and it’s staying local in the community.”

The honorary mayor’s race was started by the Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce in 1982 and has been a long-standing tradition since that time. Candidates host their own fundraising events and ask contributors for $1 or more per vote.

During the mayor’s race in August, Tracht was a celebrity bartender at the Thirsty Marlin Grill & Bar. Tracht had fallen in the parking lot at work and had broken her elbow the day before the fundraising event. But she was able to attend the event and tend the bar with one arm.

“It was very easy for me to be motivated knowing I was raising dollars for such a fine charity,” she said. “It was a great sympathy vote that I got.”

Candidates vie for the seat of honorary mayor and the winner with the most votes is announced at the chamber’s annual dinner, around September or October of each year. Past mayoral races have brought in between $3,000 and $10,000 annually.

“This is truly a fun position,” Tracht said. “As a representative in ribbon cutting ceremonies, I not only represent the chamber but I get to promote my business as well.”

The primary responsibilities of honorary major include accompanying the chamber’s CEO and chairman of the board on official new business openings and first year anniversaries. Another perk includes appearing in the annual Palm Harbor Holiday parade in December.

“I say a few words and we take pictures,” Tracht said. “More importantly, I’m out in the community talking about not only the chamber but about Patriot Bank as well.”

On another front, Tracht said plans are underway for construction of a new Patriot Bank facility at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Alt. U.S. 19.

A groundbreaking ceremony is slated for Flag Day, June 14. The bank is scheduled to open for business January 2014.

The full-service branch is modeled after Patriot Bank’s main office in Trinity and will feature a drive-thru and ATM. According to bank officials, a warm inviting interior will resemble the Arlene Tracht branch’s current location at 1103 Florida Ave.

“We’re still going to be down here in the neighborhood and doing business,” said Tracht, who serves as the bank’s customer service manager. “We have a great clientele. We see our stockholders in the grocery store, the movies and the shops. We do the best job always that we can to make them proud of us.”