By: Duane Ballard

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

On Saturday, June 7th, Local 659 put on it’s 3rd Annual Get Youth Outdoors Day, and all I can say is WOW! This year set some serious numbers for attendance. We handed out over 275 fishing poles and goody bags to the kids. We ran out of all the hot dogs, chips and ice cream, and the park said they parked over 250 cars that day.

When it came to fishing poles, we had to turn kids away without one, because only the first 200 were guaranteed a pole. Even so, we still gave out more that what guaranteed.

There were so many stations kids could explore and every one had a line- archery, BB guns, bird houses, kayak, bird feeders, disc golf and more was offered to each kid and adults.

To say it was organized chaos would be an understatement. To say is was a success cannot be emphasized enough and the goal to make it bigger and better is on the horizon. Make sure you check out all the pictures in this Searchlight to see the fun that was had.

This event and many others cannot be put on without all your Local’s volunteers who show up to help out. These events put a spotlight on what our Union does as an organization for its members and more importantly the community.

We had just over 20 volunteers from the Local, county parks, and other organizations that was part of the event. With over 500 kids and people showing up, we could have used over 20 more. From the bottom of my heat, I want to thank each and every one of them! They worked tirelessly, without breaks, to make sure the community knew what Local 659 could do.

I would like to encourage you to step up and volunteer for this event, as well as others, that our Local puts on. We, the UAW, are a team and a family and stand shoulder to shoulder to show everyone that we stand together for each other and to support the UAW and the community. I hope you think about that the next time a call is put out for things that put the UAW and our Local in a good light.

We definitely could have used more help this year and with plans to make it bigger and better next year, I can tell you we will need you next year. You don’t need to be just a sportsman to help. There are many areas that we can utilize you in, like bird houses and bird feeders.

Without the Union Sportsman’s Alliance, this event would have never been put together. This group is made up of many different unions that support the mission of promoting the outdoors in every aspect. It’s not just hunting and fishing. There are other activities like boating, hiking, bird watching, and anything you can think of that puts you outside, rain or shine, and gets you off the electronic devices that clutter our lives today. I encourage you to check them out and became part of this great organization.

When you buy a Union Sportsmen’s Alliance calendar from the Union Hall and register, you become a member of the organization. If you didn’t buy one and want to become part of the Alliance, go to https://unionsportsmen.org/ and join them now. We guarantee you will be amazed at what they do and what they do for unions, not just in this area but across the country.

If you read my articles, you know I end them with a way to get kids outdoors. Well, let me tell you we hit a home run with Get Youth Outdoors Day. It takes a village to accomplish this mission, but with the help of Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, Genesee County Parks, Skuta Outdoors, Shiawassee County Pheasants Forever, Genesee County Turkey Federation, and all the great volunteers who helped that day, it was accomplished for over 300 kids… thank you, thank you, thank you!

Summer is here and it’s a perfect time to get those kids outdoors.