From the mid-20th century when one in every six working Americans worked directly or indirectly for the auto industry to 2008 when the economy collapsed and General Motors and Chrysler teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, retirees of the “Big Three” have seen it all.

Now northern Michigan is home to hundreds of those auto retirees who still get together to reminisce about the old days, discuss new car trends, or connect with others dealing with the reality of lost or reduced pension benefits.

The Ticker takes a quick drive with each of the "Big Three" groups to learn more about the clubs, their leaders, and more.

Ford
At one point, the Northern Michigan Ford Retiree Group was about to go bust because the leader was getting older and no one wanted the job, says Charles White, who lives in Plymouth and has a home in Boyne City. White worked for Ford for 29 years and was tapped for the job.

“I noticed David Cole was having his annual meeting (Center for Automotive Research Briefing Seminars or CAR) at the Grand Traverse Resort in August … and Ford always sends up a top-level person,” he says. “I found out who sets up the speakers and told them we’d like to get the same speaker. (Ford) agreed, and over the years we’ve had a pretty impressive list of speakers.”

In 2006, Mark Fields, executive vice president of Ford and president of The Americas, took the stage at the Park Place. The next year, President and CEO Alan Mulally spoke, drawing 386 retirees.

This year’s speaker hinges on whomever Ford sends to speak at the CAR seminars, which will be held Aug. 4-7. And just as in past years, the media will not be invited, says White.

“We want to them to be open talking to us retirees.”

Mulally’s visit was a highlight because instead of following a presentation, he simply walked around the room chatting openly with retirees and answering questions.

“They were mesmerized,” adds White.

As far as how things have changed at Ford since the retirees left, White says, “Ford’s quality has improved significantly.”

General Motors
The GM group caters to former salaried employees and has 130 active members, some 40 percent of whom are from Traverse City and 40 percent of who are from Petoskey. Many of the members are ex-GM executives or managers, says group leader Durwood Shawl (who has a home in Harbor Springs).

Most members head south for the winter, so the group meets five or six times during the warmer months only. For the most part, the group is a social one, Shawl says.

“We have one session a month that includes a lunch, some lies and storytelling, and a little bit of libation and coffee,” Shawl says.

“Then we try to have some type of program that might be entertaining; for instance, every year we try to see the Young Americans at Boyne Highlands. Other times we’ve had business owners, singers, storytellers, writers and more.”

Shawl also tries to “piggyback on the GM speaker” who speaks at the August CAR meeting.

Shawl, who worked for GM’s engineering groups for 40 years, has been leading the group for 20 years. He says the group caters to retirees from all divisions within the corporation.

Chrysler
A group of Chrysler retirees meet the second Tuesday of the month April through October at the Elks Lodge. The group doesn’t incorporate speakers or entertainment into meetings like the other two alumni groups.

“We just meet and talk about old times,” says Jim Huff, who lives in Traverse City and started the group in 2000. “Some guys will bring in pictures and we’ll talk about what cars used to look like.”

Huff says conversation does sometimes shift to the topics of pensions and health care.

“In our case, it’s what’s going to happen to our pension,” he adds.

The size of the group ranges from 15 to 30. Most retired from Chrysler in the ’80s and ’90s and attendees come from as far away as Boyne City, Petoskey and Torch Lake.

Anyone, whether they were salary or hourly, is welcome to join, Huff says, noting the lunches run from 11:30-2.