Executive Vice President Jim Burson said business will go on as usual on Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands. The name on the door will change to VantageSouth next spring, but there will be no significant changes to banking services, said Burson.

Ocracoke's only bank, a branch of East Carolina Bank, opened on the island in 1978. Before that islanders kept their wealth somewhere in their unlocked homes, or buried in the yard.

"In a sock, maybe," suggested Clayton Gaskill, who attended the gathering that accompanied the grand opening. His grandmother, Sarah Ellen Gaskill, was 99 that year, and honored along with other older folks on the island that day.

Business owners stored money in safes, and did their banking on Hatteras. Jen Esham and her late husband, David, bought the Pony Island Motel in 1973. The opening of ECB "was a wonderful asset to the community," said Jen.

ECB was founded in Engelhard, on mainland Hyde County, in 1919, with $10,000 worth of assets pledged by local farmers, fishermen and merchants.  It grew into a regional institution with 230 employees and 25 branches. The bank has been strong and stable through the last economic cycle, and for the last 90 years, said Burson. That made it an attractive asset to VantageSouth, which is based in Raleigh.

In September, 2012, ECB Bancorp and Crescent Financial Shares, Inc. announced that ECB would be purchased by Crescent shareholders.  Crescent will merge with VantageSouth in the first quarter of 2013, and ECB branches will begin operating as one of 45 VantageSouth branches. 

The expanded network of branches will allow islanders to have access to their hometown bank when as they are as far afield as Raleigh.  While there will be some redundancies among upper management, the four Ocracoke tellers and manager Judy Garrish will continue to run the Ocracoke branch with the same attention to customer service, and the same homemade holiday treats. 

"We are a community bank and will still be a community bank," said Burson.  He anticipates that ECB's traditional commitment to supporting local non-profits will not change, and perhaps even grow. 

Burson said the institution is fortunate to have Garrish running the local branch, and said, "At the end of the day this is a good thing for customers and shareholders."