Eulene L. Hollon has experienced many things during her career as a bank teller including being held up.

About 32 years ago while working for the Bank of Thorsby, a couple of masked men dressed in coveralls came to her window demanding that she give them all the bank’s money. Her immediate response wasn’t fear but laughter.

“I thought they were joking,” she said. “We had just been to a class teaching us what we were supposed to do if we were held up. I thought they were testing us to see if we were going to do the right thing.”

“By the time they left, I knew they weren’t joking,” she added.

This and many other events have marked her career spanning 40 years. This week, Regions Bank recognized her for that milestone.

Hollon said she doesn’t know when she will retire from her job.

“I guess I’m just going to keep working until my grandchildren stop asking me for money,” she joked.

Hollon began working with the Bank of Thorsby on May 27, 1968. She later worked in bookkeeping and as a drive-thru teller before becoming head teller in 1971.

The Bank of Thorsby became Chilton County Bank and First Alabama Bank, which eventually became Regions Bank in 1992.

She continued working in Thorsby until that branch closed in 2000. Then, she moved to the Clanton branch and has been there ever since.

Hollon is married to Ron Holland, and they live in Clanton. They have two sons and six grandchildren.

“I have enjoyed working here with everyone,” she said.