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I’m honored to be the newly elected president of the General Motors Lansing Salaried Retirees Club. First, I’ll give you a little of my GM background.

I hired in at Oldsmobile in June 1964, fresh from Michigan Tech. Beginning as a Junior Methods Engineer in Bldg. 40-2, with Bud Bourquin as my supervisor, I followed Mel Hammond around as I learned the job of processing cylinder head assembly and piston & rod assembly, before Mel moved on to another assignment. After a few years of working on Engine Plant assembly equipment, I moved to the Plant Layout Department, to do some board work, not too long before we converted to computer graphics. The next move was to Industrial Engineering - Final Assembly, when exhaust emission and bumper height requirements came along. My last years in Final were spent in “temporary” office trailers south of Bldg. 90. In 1984, I transferred to Plant Engineering at the Lansing BOC Body Plant (Fisher Body), with responsibilities for miscellaneous facilities changes. Eventually, I morphed into Planner for the department, along with being Energy Engineer for Lansing Car Assembly, both Body & Chassis Plants. By that time, our group was part of the Worldwide Facilities Group. I retired in 2005, just short of 41 years, coincidentally with LCA operations being phased out. My early years with Oldsmobile are my most memorable, and I still mourn the death of that proud nameplate.

Our club continues to support social activities and informational services for all GM Lansing retirees, including over 1,000 paid-up members. Fred Kane’s membership committee works diligently keeping the membership records up-to-date. Revisions to the roster are posted on the club website and printed in the quarterly newsletters. Membership renewals were particularly successful this year, with speedy returns and multi-year payments, both of which help keep our mailing costs down.

Speaking of costs, all of our activities are intended to be self-funded. To be certain that happens; the board closely watches costs and income. Recent events, such as the summer social golf outings, the Detroit Tigers bus trip, and the annual business luncheon meeting all came quite close to net zero. As we approach each future event, the board looks at history, inflation, etc., to determine what the ticket price will be in order to come out even.

Larry Koster did his usual stellar job of “mother-henning” the arrangements for the annual meeting. On a gorgeous fall day at the MSU Kellogg Center, 78 people were in attendance to renew friendships, and elect club officers. We enjoyed an excellent meal and a very interesting presentation by Steve Rogers, Manager of the Lansing Regional Stamping Operations.

For the newsletter, editor Don Sokoloski continues to make improvements. At Larry Parker’s suggestion, we’ve investigated a new printing and mailing source, and are giving it a trial run for this issue and roster. It appears to be a win-win situation - lower overall cost, and less work for the board. Please let us know what you think. Soko is also liaison to Dan Foltz, our Webmaster, passing information to him for posting. By the way, the website can be a much better tool for sharing information if more members would contribute. When you come on any news of GM, automotive issues, or just plain fun, that you think would be interesting to others, please pass it on to Soko.

I’m particularly thankful to John Bond. After leading the club as president for 4 years, following 2 years as vice president, he has graciously taken over the position of treasurer, and is modernizing / computerizing the accounting systems.

Please help me as I “learn the ropes”. Let me know how you feel the club could be even more valuable to the members. And remember - you’re always welcome to attend any of the monthly board meetings. As listed in the membership roster, they are held at the R. E. Olds Transportation Museum, 10:00 a.m., the third Thursday of each month.

See other newsletter articles for information about events coming up this winter.