By: Duane Ballard

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

What about this Lions hype? I know that in my life time I never thought I would see it. I think we can all say, even if they don’t make it all the way this year, we can finally taste an appearance of a Super Bowl in the next few years. It is amazing how they have overcome so many injuries during the season and continue to be this good. You might have heard it before, but that takes a lot of grit on their part. GO LIONS!

Welcome to 2025 and Happy New Year. This new year brings a few annual things. Our UAW Local 659 Union Sportsman Dinner is one of those things. This year’s dinner is scheduled for Saturday, March 1. The individual tickets are $75.00 and include admission for dinner, door prize and a 1- year Union Sportsman Membership. There are also table sponsorships available with a guaranteed winner of either a gun, crossbow, or a cooler. The tables have a choice of which one they want.

This event is a great time, with lots of opportunities to win some great outdoor prizes, including guns. Contact me here at the hall, or stop by and get a flyer. Hope to see you there.

Another thing this new year brings in is tax season. We are currently having issues with the city of Flint’s new electronic system and are working on getting those issues fixed. We need those numbers for all W-2’s before we can issue them. I’m asking all to be patient until the city of Flint can get it figured out. I know my patience is short already with them, so please have a little more than me.

I would like to congratulate all of our GM employees who are about to retire. Don’t forget to sign up for retiree dues at $3.00 a month. It will get you into a lot of functions the retiree group does. They do a lot of trips, and also the holiday dinners at a discounted rate.

Seems like we have already had more snow than we had all of last year. I like snow on 30-degree days, but with no wind! I hate the wind. These are perfect days to go find a hill with a few kids and sled. I remember when I was a kid the hills were packed with sleds. This is a great opportunity to get a child outdoors and let them get some fresh air. The best part about it is that they have a hard time hanging onto those phones and iPads going down the hill.

Get a kid outside and let them get a little snow on their face.