A small cache of artifacts and a unique painting discovered by family members of the late Newtown Savings Bank (NSB) President Kenneth Adams have been returned to bank officials with most of the items being slated for a new public display case that will likely be installed at the Church Hill Road branch.

On March 21, Kenneth Adams’ son, Milton Adams arrived at NSB offices on Main Street to meet with President and CEO Ken Weinstein, First Vice President of Community Relations Doug Hensal, and Vice President/Public Relations Director Tanya Wulff Truax. His visit started in the lower visitor’s entry, where an oil painting created by Elizabeth Hoeffner aka Elizabeth Turner-Hall was recently framed and mounted.

As Adams explained it, the roughly four foot panoramic painting of local landmarks, including the flagpole and Edmond Town Hall’s clock tower, was created by Hoeffner as part of a proposal to recreate the work in greater detail and significantly grander scope in what used to be the commercial public area when customers used to walk right in to do their banking business through the Main Street entrance.

While that area of the building is now administrative space, that huge mural installed in 1965 remains.

But bank officials and customers loved the mural so much, that they had it replicated for customers to see when NSB opened its new main branch at the Village at Lexington Gardens in 2017. Flashing back to 1965, The Newtown Bee reported more than 150 people attended a June reception to view the newly completed 27-foot-long mural. A photo caption from the event states: “The soft coloring in the mural gives a tapestry effect, in keeping with the Colonial architecture and décor of the bank.

Both Hoeffner, a local resident and art teacher, and Kenneth Adams were in attendance for that 1965 event.

By 1999, Hoeffner — now Elizabeth Turner-Hall — was recruited by the bank to return and touch up the mural, as reported and photographed by then Bee staffer Kaaren Valenta, who also noted that the mural had survived being relocated a total of three times. The sprucing-up by the mural artist preceded a grand re-opening of the bank’s main lobby following extensive renovations.

In that report, Turner-Hall told The Bee that after many meetings and discussions, it was decided that bank trustees “wanted a mural that would reflect something of the history and special character of Newtown.” It was finally decided that representations, not recreations of civic and commercial buildings, would be appropriate, and she proceeded with an intent not to show familiar features as they once were or as they appeared in 1964 — but rather to create an impression as interpreted by the artist.

As Weinstein and Milton Adams looked at the original oil rendering, the bank president pointed out that the imagery appeared contemporary — and embodied a timeless quality. He added that in the coming weeks, a placard would be installed with the original painting explaining some of its background.

Moving to a small boardroom, the group was then excited to discover a package full of old premiums, gifts, and memorabilia from the bank with at least one item dating back to the early 1940s. That item was a steel children’s Newtown Savings-branded mechanical bank. The circular device had a coin slot, a handle, and a counter so children could keep a total of the coins they saved.

Much to the delight of the bank officials, Adams put a nickel in the device’s coin slot, cranked the handle, and the meter ticked from 70 to 75 cents — as effortlessly as it did around 80 years ago.

Among the other items Adams donated on behalf of his father and family was a Newtown Savings Bank lead pencil embossed with the bank’s original three branch locations, a small branded metal tape measure engraved with the bank name, several commemorative tie or lapel pins also provided as bank premiums at some point over the past decades.

He also donated two copies of a small bound book containing historical facts and details about Newtown Savings Bank since it was first established in 1855, celebrating the organization’s 1955 centennial. The book also contained numerous pictures, photos, and images of Newtown in the later 19th, and early 20th Century.

Another printed glossy multi-fold brochure, Wulff Truax noted, likely served as the bank’s annual report publication that was circulated to staffers, corporators, and the public. It contained a tribute to Kenneth Adams, who started as a teller in 1953 and rose to become NSB President in 1973.

It stated that Adams helped the bank grow from one branch when he was promoted, to six branches at his retirement, and as president and a notable civic leader, he guided the bank from having $49 million in assets to over $250 million.

As the meeting drew to a close, Weinstein located and read a passage from the historical bound publication that read: “The Newtown Savings Bank was here on Main Street since 1855 serving your forefathers; it is here on Main Street in 1955 serving you and it is safe to forecast that the bank will be here in 2055 serving your descendants.”