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                                  EXHIBIT 31.1

                             ALPENA BANCSHARES, INC.
                                   FORM 10-KSB

                          YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Martin A. Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

(1)   I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-KSB of Alpena Bancshares,
      Inc.;

(2)   Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
      this annual report;

(3)   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements and other financial
      information included in this annual report fairly present in all material
      respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
      the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly
      report;

(4)   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15c and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
      and have:

      a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls procedures to be designed under our supervision,
            to ensure that material information relating to the registrant,
            including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
            others within those entities, particularly during the period in
            which this annual report is being prepared;

      b)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
            the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
            the end of the period covered by this report based on such
            evaluation; and

      c)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or
            is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
            control over reporting: and

(5)   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
      our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting ,
      to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board
      of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
            or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
            reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

      b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.


March 30, 2004                          /s/ Martin A. Thomson
Date                                    ---------------------
                                        Martin A. Thomson
                                        President and Chief Executive Officer