This past month, I had the opportunity to visit Flint’s Buick Automotive Gallery for the first time. I’m not a car aficionado, but I could not help but gawk at the beautifully restored and preserved vehicles. Contributing to my awe was the difficulty I had imagining them actually being used by people at some time; they looked like props, or artifacts – not cars that people drove.

On July 4, 2015, we lost longtime Flint media legend, Dave Barber. For decades, the often controversial and award-winning broadcaster hosted “The Dave Barber Show” on Flint radio stations WTRX, WTAC and WFDF. He is remembered as an energetic and talented entertainer and bon vivant, who was passionate about the city and its people. Dave was known to say, “It’s time to count my tips and go home.” My City bids a fond farewell to a friend of Flint who will be missed.

With its proud stature, white head and tail feathers, strong talons and sharp eyes, the bald eagle is a sight to behold. America’s national emblem, bald eagle sightings in Michigan used to be a rarity, but today people are reporting more sightings of this majestic bird as its numbers continue to rise. It wasn’t always so. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports that the bald eagle population slowly declined in the early to mid-1900s, and then sharply declined during the 1950s to the point of near-extinction in most of the country. The increased use of pesticides in those years, particularly DDT, caused reduced or delayed breeding in eagles, and some pairs did not breed at all or produced eggs with fragile shells that broke in the nest. Chemicals washing into the waterways contaminated the fish that the birds consumed, resulting in the overall poor health of the species.

Going to college is an important time of transition both personally and intellectually. As young adults, we try to settle on a major field of study (sometimes changing majors multiple times) while trying to figure out who we are as individuals, which values and beliefs define us and how our future careers can utilize the absolute best of who we are. We try to maintain a few connections with old friends while enthusiastically building new friendships, joining clubs, socializing, getting a college job and experiencing new things. Some choose to move away from home and stay in residence halls; others commute to campus or take courses online. Older students going back to finish a degree or pursue a career change enter a new stage in life as they step back into the classroom, accepting all of the challenges and family sacrifices that go along with their decision.

In 1971, Memorial Day was designated by Congress as a national holiday to honor all Americans who died while defending the United States and its values. However, before Memorial Day was declared a national holiday, Americans had been honoring fallen soldiers for many years. In May 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, the Grand Army of the Republic established this day as a way to honor those who died in the war by decorating their graves with flowers. Originally it was called Decoration Day. The month of May was a natural choice as most of the country has flowers blooming in May.

The unofficial anthem of North American baseball was written in 1908 by lyricist Jack Norworth and composer Albert Von Tilzer, neither of whom had ever seen a professional baseball game before penning it.

Why is the shamrock associated with St. Patrick’s Day? Why do people wear green on that day? Who is St. Patrick, anyway?

On December 30, 1936, during a shift change, workers took over Fisher Body Plant One. As one of one of two auto body stamping plants, the strike immediately got national attention. GM tried twice to use a court injunction to make the strikers leave, but it was discovered that the judges issuing those injunctions were GM stockholders. On January 11, city police tried with guns and tear gas to storm Fisher 2 plant, which had also been taken over by strikers, but failed in what is now called “The Battle of Bulls Run.”

If you’re of Celtic descent (Irish, Scottish or Welsh) and you love Halloween, rejoice! The holiday was created by your ancient, pagan ancestors.