Flutie will help Eastern Bank celebrate a merger

(File photo: Mike Nowak/Freelance)

Eastern Bank said that football legend Doug Flutie will be part of its celebration of its merger with MASSBANK.

On Tuesday, between 3 and 4 p.m., the fabled Flutie is scheduled to greet new customers and sign autographs at Eastern’s new branch in Chelmsford on North Road, the bank said.

"Special prizes, including miniature footballs, will also be handed out," Eastern Bank said in a press release.

In September, Eastern announced that it had completed the acquisition of MASSBANK Corp. of Reading in a cash transaction valued at $170 million. One result of that acquisition was to increase Eastern Bank's presence in Middlesex County, where MASSBANK had 15 offices, said Eastern Bank, which added then that the MASSBANK branches would ultimately be "merged under the Eastern name."

The Flutie event next week will mark the name change in Chelmsford.

Based in Boston, Eastern Bank has $7.1 billion in assets and nearly 90 branches stretching from Merrimack Valley to Cape Cod.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)