Right-to-work states have noticeably higher rates of economic growth and have added jobs at twice the rate of non-right-to-work states.  They are poised to overtake Michigan in terms of disposable per-capita income growth as well.  Hear more on the subject from speaker Paul Kersey, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy on Thursday, June 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Bullard Sanford Memorial Library, 520 W Huron.  The Mackinac Center in Midland is a nonpartisan research and educational institute that will assist policy makers, scholars, business people, the media and the public by providing objective analysis of Michigan issues.

Paul Kersey became director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in September 2007, having served as the Center’s senior labor policy analyst since December 2006. As director, Kersey leads the Center’s Labor Policy Initiative and researches labor and employment issues.  Kersey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In 1993, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois.

After practicing law in Livonia, Mich., for several years, Kersey served on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform and Oversight Committee. He then spent three years at the National Right to Work Committee as director of state legislation. In that role, he analyzed and responded to labor legislation in all 50 states.

The meeting is sponsored by The Western Thumb TEA Party which is committed to educating family, friends and neighbors.  Part of the TEA party experience is gaining enough information to make knowledgeable choices.  There will be information on immigration, health care, cap and trade.  Everyone is welcome.  For more information visit www.tuscolatea.org or email tuscolatea@yahoo.com or call 989-272-5416.

The public is invited to join us as we honor Veterans with a Civil War dramatization by special guest and speaker, Lutullus S. Penton Jr.  He is treasurer of the 102nd United States Colored Troops Re-enactors Company B. based in Detroit.  The event is on Thursday, May 20, at the Bullard Sanford Memorial Library, 520 W Huron from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.   All material is appropriate for public and home schooled students.

Playwright and motivational speaker, Lutulllius Penton is a former history teacher in the Flint Public Schools and is the 5th Congressional District Chairman of the the Republican Party.  He has a World History Degree and A Masters Degree in American Culture from the University of Michigan.  Mr. Penton was attending the American Baptist College in Nashville, TN when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 1968 in Memphis and worked in Atlanta doing Civil Rights work.  He has recently attained his MLS Degree in American Culture, from the University of Michigan.  Mr. Penton authored his directed research paper on Poverty Programs and the "War on Poverty in America" and is currently employed as the Director of the Genesee County Community Action Work First Program.     

The 1st Michigan Colored Infantry was formed on February 23, 1863, after an editorial and letter writing campaign by Henry Barns, an editor for the Detroit Tribune and Advertiser.  On May 23, 1864, the unit was redesignated the 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops. Volunteers came from Detroit, southern Michigan and Ontario, Canada.  Some of the 845 volunteers were escaped slaves from the Underground Railroad, and some were fighting to free their family members who may have still been in slavery.  During training, a regimental band was formed which toured to recruit more volunteers.  The 102nd Regiment fought throughout South Carolina, eastern Georgia and Florida and was mustered out of service on September 30, 1985.  The regiment returned to Detroit where they were disbanded on October 17, 1865.   The total enrollment was 1,446. 

The United States War Department issued General Order Number 143 on May 22, 1863, establishing a “Bureau of Colored Troops” to facilitate the recruitment of Africa-American soldiers to fight for the Union Army.  Regiments, including infantry, cavalry, light artillery and heavy artillery units were recruited from all states of the Union and became known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT).  Approximately 175 regiments of more than 178,000 free blacks and freed slaves served during the last two years of the war, and bolstered the Union war effort as a critical time.  By war’s end, the USCT was approximately a tenth of all Union troops.  There were 2,751 USCT combat casualties during the war, and 68,178 losses from all causes.

The dramatization is sponsored by The Western Thumb TEA Party which is committed to educating family, friends and neighbors.  Part of the TEA party experience is gaining enough information to make knowledgeable choices.  There will be information on immigration, health care, cap and trade.  Everyone is welcome.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m.  For more information visit www.tuscolatea.org or email tuscolatea@yahoo.com or call 989-272-5416.