Meredith Village Savings Bank is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with a series of events and surprises for community members.

Anniversary celebrations kicked off in January with in-branch raffles for commemorative Yeti tumblers as a well as several chances to win winter getaways to local attractions. MVSB will be hosting an array of events and contests throughout the year to honor the 150-year milestone.

“We have several gifts and surprises open to any and all community members who wish to celebrate our anniversary with us,” Rick Wyman, president of MVSB, said in a statement. “Service and giving back was a founding principle, and we are proud to uphold this tradition. Although we cherish our long and rich heritage, we see ourselves as 150 years young. We will continue to uncover more opportunities to serve customers and our communities over the next 150 years.”

Charted on June 30, 1869, Meredith Village Savings Bank was founded by Seneca A. Ladd, a Meredith-based businessman who opened the bank as a way to instill good money management habits in his employees. At the age of 15, Ladd began his career in the carriage construction industry, quickly moving on to operate a thriving 3-story carriage business in the building that now houses the Meredith Historical Society. A decade later, following a hunch that pianos would become a staple household instrument for Americans, he leased an idle cotton mill to produce pianos and melodeons on the site where the shops at Mill Falls Marketplace now stand.

Over its history, MVSB has expanded from a one-room operation in downtown Meredith to 13 offices in Alton, Ashland, Center Harbor, Gilford, Laconia, Melvin Village, Meredith, Moultonborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Wolfeboro.