Tuan Le, 58, of Ortonville, Michigan, is the third GM employee represented by Michael Pitt of Royal Oak to file a legal claim that the company’s so-called “forced ranking” evaluation system (also known as “stacked ranking”) requires managers to meet job-elimination quotas that unfairly and illegally punish senior employees.

Le is alleging retaliation for speaking up within the company too, according to the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court on Wednesday, August 19.

GM spokesman Kevin Kelly declined to comment to Shifting Gears.

The forced ranking system is legendary in legal circles, having been abandoned by companies after a litany of lawsuits brought by employees and the AARP.

Pitt also represented plaintiffs who sued Ford Motor Co. in 2001. The company, then led by CEO Jacques Nasser, settled the class action claims for $10.5 million without admitting wrongdoing. Ford stopped using the grading process implemented in 2000.

Meanwhile, GM began using the program in 2024.

“Leaders will be expected to own this change — including explaining what we are doing, and why it is important for GM and its future,” according to an internal general memo obtained by Shifting Gears and dated August 28, 2024. “This document is intended for People Leaders only. Please DO NOT share.”

How it works

A certain portion of GM workers must be put in the “Does Not Meet Expectations” category. Job cut quotas must be met by managers. Period.

Leaders are required to designate 15% of its staff in the ‘Does Not Meet Expectations’ category or ‘Partially Meets Expectations category,” Pitt told Shifting Gears. “This system is uniformly disliked by managers. We have statistics that older employees are disproportionately rated negatively and younger employees are disproportionately rated positively. This policy is biased against older people.”

‘A corrupt process’

At issue, according to the lawsuit, is that GM managers are told they must meet job-cutting quotas that identify non-performing workers whether or not they are fulfilling performance expectations.

“I’ve got documents where they were actually keeping scores, so as the group leaders go through evaluations, the HR people are saying, ‘You’ve got 800 people, 40 of your people have to come in as ‘Do Not Meet’ because that’s 5%. If you’ve identified 25, you have to find 15 more. It’s no longer how a person is performing. If the manager doesn’t find somebody, then they’re in trouble. It’s not just an artificial process. I’d go so far as to say it’s a corrupt process.”

In March 2025 and July 2025, Le received a “Partially Meets” evaluation after almost 25 years of positive performance evaluations. Then he “spoke out publicly (via email) about GM’s adoption of a discriminatory performance review system,” according to the lawsuit obtained by Shifting Gears.

On July 8, 2025, Le emailed his Global Propulsion Systems Manufacturing Engineering Group of approximately 800 workers and noted that the GM system was similar to the process Ford used that led to lawsuits and abandonment of the system.

‘Disastrous’

Le included in his group email links to news articles from Forbes, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and CBS News, discussing fallout from the “disastrous ranking system for employees at Ford,” according to the lawsuit.

“I may just have my badge revoked and not able to enter any GM facilities tomorrow with this email so it’s been nice to know and work with/for some of you,” Le sent to GM colleagues at 6:44 p.m. “Live long enough and you’re bound to see history repeats itself. Surely, there are others here beside me who remember Jac ‘The Knife’ Nasser.”

Le received favorable reactions from his colleagues almost immediately, the lawsuit says. Le’s manager (Shenita McCants Jenkins) sent an email to employees in her group asking them not to respond to Le’s email, the lawsuit said.

On July 23, 2025, Le was “summoned” to a virtual meeting with Hilger, McCants Jenkins and HR representative Tiffany Brigman.

“GM’s Human Resources department reacted to the email by informing Le that he had two choices: accept a Plan for Improvement (PFI) to be completed in 30 days or take a severance and leave the company,” the lawsuit says. “Le accepted the PFI and satisfactorily completed all of its requirements but was told he could not regress to old behavior.”

Despite his compliance, GM terminated Le on January 17, 2026.

He went from working as an industrial engineer in 1999, analyzing work contents to develop processes and balancing work centers for new launches as well as current production, through a series of promotions — senior industrial engineer, then senior manufacturing engineer who first worked on budgets and forecast reports then creating simulation models to assist new programs and existing programs.

Lost a $120,000 job

From 1999 through 2023, Le was rated as “Achieves” or higher and based on his supervisor’s opinion of performance received 100% or more of his bonus payout, the lawsuits says.

Le’s last annual salary was $120,000 and he was eligible for bonuses and other benefits.

According to an internal GM bulletin reviewed by Shifting Gears, GM moved from a 3- to 5-point performance rating scale.

• Significantly Exceeds Expectations: 5% of the organization (150% target bonus payout)

• Exceeds Expectations: 10% of the organization (125% target bonus payout)

• Achieves Expectations: 70% of the organization (100% target bonus payout)

• Partially Meets Expectations: 10% (50% target bonus payout)

• Does Not Meet Expectations: 5% (0% target bonus payout)

‘Fighting and back stabbing’

The lawsuit also details the role of “people leaders,” often known as team leaders, and how they critique their workers in this forced ranking process.

Preliminary employee ratings are suggested by each employee’s people leader,” the lawsuit says. “Group leaders meet in what is described as a ‘Calibration Session’ whereby the preliminary employee ratings set by each employee’s direct people leader are considered and adjusted up or down or unchanged by the higher group leaders. It is at this point in the process where much of the age discrimination occurs.”

An engineer missing a timeline goal because a supplier couldn’t build and deliver equipment due to a material shortage could be cited for missing the deadline without essential context, the lawsuit says. “During the Calibration Session, performance ratings are often assigned to employees under consideration on the basis of hearsay and highly subjective opinions expressed by session participants who do not have firsthand experience with the employees or the situations.”

In the lawsuit, Le said “supervisor Dave Hilger communicated to Le and others in their group that there is ‘a lot of fighting and backstabbing’ in the calibration process because managers wanted to keep the rating for their own employees elevated due to the bottom 15% being forced on them … Hilger advised Le that ‘sometimes supervisors can give their direct reports a different grade than the final grade after calibration session with higher mangers/directors.’ Hilger advised Le that he and other supervisors thought the new performance review system was unfair and in their meeting with Human Resources so expressed their displeasure with the new system.”

Le, a senior throughput simulation engineer, said this relatively new performance review protocol has changed the culture at GM. Some engineers revealed to Le that they would not teach younger or new employees everything they know just to protect their own jobs, he told Shifting Gears in an exclusive interview.

“People don’t come to work happy anymore. They walk around and wonder if they’re going to get let go, even when they’ve been doing good,” he said. “Everyone is just scared. This is more about politics and kissing up to the boss. It just reduces morale. I was hoping my email would generate discussion and maybe it would get to (CEO) Mary Barra.”

Grades range from 1 to 5 and a low scores indicates the employee is in trouble.

Pitt told Shifting Gears, “Quotas are toxic employment practices resulting in the breakdown of trust between management and employees because employees are always worried that they will be the sacrificial lamb who is dropped into the lowest 5% category.”

Le, born in Vietnam during the war, was brought by Americans to Cheboygan, Michigan, as an orphan and put in foster care.

Working at GM was a dream, Le said. He is seeking reinstatement at GM with lost wages and benefits and legal fees.

GM protocol ditched by Ford, Microsoft, Sandia

This employee review process has generated headlines for 25 years.

In July 2001, “Nasser e-mailed all Ford employees saying the system would be replaced by a more flexible evaluation system that does not require doling out the lowest grade and reducing pay,” the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. “‘The negative feedback has centered around what was viewed as an inflexible system by some, and as discriminatory by a few others,’ Nasser said in his e-mail.”

Its headline: “Ford scraps controversial employee grading system.”

Ford isn’t alone in getting rid of the evaluation process now under attack at GM.

• Goodyear Rubber and Tire Co. dumped forced ranking in 2002 after being sued by older workers and AARP, saying the company didn’t discriminate but it was revising its evaluation system, according to The Maryland Daily Record.

• Under the headline “The folly of forced rankings,” CNET reported in an analysis piece in 2002 that Sandia Corp. lost a class-action age discrimination suit in 1975 that focused on the validity of its forced distribution appraisal system. “The company lost because it couldn’t prove that the forced distributions it created led to valid measures of individual performance.”

• Employees at Microsoft and Conoco sued over forced ranking systems, according to an article in The New York Times in March 2001 headlined, “Companies Turn to Grades, and Employees Go to Court.”

• The job review protocol crippled innovation, critics said. A headline in The Seattle Times said in November 2013 said, “Microsoft ditches system that ranks employees against each other.” That same year, Harvard Business Review said, “Being forced to rate every single one of your team on a bell curve from excellent to poor (even if the whole team had, in fact, performed excellently) has been singled out … as one of the reasons for Microsoft’s inability to foster high-performing teams, a major cause of its ‘lost decade.’”

‘Why?’ Make it make sense

Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, told Shifting Gears there’s nothing wrong with demanding excellence from employees but fair execution of the process is essential.

“Basing it on a percentile is not great management. The way they’re doing it creates a competition that ultimately harms morale and leads to less performance and makes GM a less attractive place to work,” he said.

The forced ranking program “is obviously a flawed system that should be rethought,” Elson said. “Using a stick to force good behavior is always wrong. You do an incentive. This program is a stick rather than a carrot.”

He can’t imagine why GM would pick up a performance review program that other companies have dumped years ago based on legal outcomes. “Why is it returning?”

Elson isn’t alone in his criticism of GM’s performance review strategy.

‘Boneheaded’

Economist Alec Levenson, director and senior research scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said forced ranking was notoriously implemented by CEO Jack Welch at General Electric in the 1980s.

“GM is literally going back to the Jack Welch/GE playbook,” Levenson told Shifting Gears. “That’s very old school and incredibly retro, in a bad way. It’s boneheaded. You’re going to end up cutting some of your top performers for the wrong reasons.”

If cost-cutting is the goal, GM could put the names of high performing workers in a lottery and draw names for termination, which would alleviate age discrimination claims, he said.

“If you did this forced distribution of rankings one or maybe two times, you can arguably identify low performers,” Levenson said. “But then you’re going deeper and deeper into the pool of pretty good performers. It’s a mathematical certainty. Why is GM doing this? It sounds like a way to take out labor costs. It sounds 100% like a labor-cost-cutting exercise.”

Evidence has shown that companies doing this are targeting older people, he said. “GM could cut by department, using contributions to the business to guide where bigger versus smaller cuts should be made. Instead, this brute force reclassifying people from high performing to termination raises all kinds of questions. Then employees wonder about the whole performance rating process. ‘Was it just bullshit last year?’”

In an internal 2024 FAQ memo obtained by Shifting Gears, GM wrote that many top-performing public companies (including banks, Silicon Valley companies and more) use a similar review system. “Regardless of what other companies are doing, GM needs to be the highest-performing culture to succeed and win.”

‘Hunger Games’

After GM implemented the job review program two years ago, posts spiked on the Reddit online forum site designated for GM workers (r/GeneralMotors) and discussion included:

• The review term is identified by managers as a “performance indicator.”

• “Performance Calibration” = Hunger Games

• “In a way, they are fostering a work culture that doesn’t reward collaboration on the same team because you are now competing with all your coworkers to get stacked higher.”

The GM Reddit site, created for issues discussion among employees and retirees, averages 20,000 visitors a week, according to its analytics statement.

Boss puked

A former GM engineer with knowledge of the forced ranking protocol told Shifting Gears that the new system “absolutely turns people against each other” and middle managers trying to protect their own team actually attempt to make others teams look bad.

“I can defend myself against issues with co-workers and my boss can see that, but when another middle manager goes to my boss and makes me look bad, who is he going to believe? That’s where it breaks down,” the engineer said.

“A team can have all superstars, the best of the best, but somebody has to get a low score,” said the engineer, who has worked at two companies that used forced ranking in performance reviews. “I once saw a manager select someone and they eventually walked her out. The manager went into the bathroom and puked. It’s a lot of stress.”

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As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

In 1985, he came off a wave and watched the mast snap. St. Elmo’s Fire, a J/120, quit.

In 2026, he came off a wave and dominated the fleet. Hot Ticket, a J/120, won its class.

The best part this time? Kirkman wasn’t listening to mayday calls like he did 41 years ago, when Tomahawk called the Canadian Coast Guard for help as it sank in Lake Huron after battling 40-knot winds and 10-foot waves northwest of Tobermory, Ontario, Canada.

“You could hear the guy on the radio throwing up,” Kirkman, 57, of Detroit told Shifting Gears.

But this year’s Port Huron to Mackinac race did break rigs and made racers so sick they were curled up down below and throwing up over the side of the boat, unable to compete. While no one reported the need for hospitalization, sailors did tell of severe bruising, head wounds and even bone injuries.

“Carnage,” Kirkman said. “The key was being prepared for the weather and getting the right sails up at the right time and not being too late.”

Hot Ticket: timing and discipline

They knew they win races in storms. They also knew the boat was prepped to perfection in advance, both the boat and its sails. Seasoned Hot Ticket crew members trusted each other to do their jobs and report to duty on shift changes with military precision and strategic debriefs.

“You don’t take for granted that you can keep the boat under control,” said Kirkman, who enjoys a Coors Light beer after victory. “We thought last week was intense in Chicago. We’ll remember Port Huron. We like it when it’s a little crazy.”

Trish Kirkman, 58, of Novi, Michigan, shared a four-hours-on, four-hours-off shift with her husband Mike, 52, and son Michael, 23, of Boston, Massachusetts. The guys drove, alternating every hour to stay fresh. A videographer captured images of Hot Ticket on the racecourse that illustrated the tenuous situation.

“When you have 12- to 15-foot swells, you can’t see the boat. You just see the mast,” she said. “Drivers have to know how to drive swells or the bow gets buried in the water, then you have two feet of water rushing over the deck. When a storm’s coming, everyone jumps into their positions. It’s shifting gears and putting up new sails every time the wind shifts, making sure the boat is going the fastest it can.”

On Monday, July 20, the skipper called off shifts. Wind was blowing 15- to 17 knots and Hot Ticket needed everybody on deck to push the final four hours of the race, Trish Kirkman said. “If you want to sleep on the rail, fine. But we need bodies and we need to make this boat go fast. It’s a 48-hour race. You can sleep on Mackinac.”

Seasick then, not now

Lynn Kotwicki, 54, of Royal Oak, sailed on Relentless, a Catalina 38 sailboat, in her first Port Huron to Mackinac race I 1985. They didn’t make the podium.

“What we remember about it is that you hear the mayday from Tomahawk and you’re doing the math — Who’s closer? How many boats are going to turn around and get them? Our parents are having the discussion with us about what happened, continuing on, and safety,” said Kotwicki, past commodore of the Bayview Yacht Club.

“Then, we were pounding into the waves, eating spaghetti and watching all the parents puke and the kids not puking,” she told Shifting Gears.

This year, no one on Hot Ticket had seasickness issues. They focused on preparing their bodies before the race with healthy food and rest. They avoided burnout by rotating a lot and drinking enough water. Body prep and boat prep both matter, Kotwicki said. They took breakfast burritos, meatball sandwiches, granola bars, cherry Pop-Tarts and white Monster energy drinks with zero sugar, zero calories and about twice the caffeine content of a coffee.

During this 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race, so many boats dropped out that sailors on the racecourse found themselves responding to calls and texts from friends and family and other sailors making sure racers were OK, she said. They could hear chatter on the radio that boats were dropping out. “Then the Coast Guard started saying, ‘Don’t call us, please call the race committee’ because they had to deal with emergent situations instead of ‘I broke something and I’m dropping out.’”

The end is near

No seasoned sailor dismisses violent wind and waves as trivial, she said. What made this year especially challenge was the duration of wind blowing 25- to 35-knots for seven to eight hours, with 8- to 10-foot waves and rogue 12- to 14-footers.

“We knew it would end at midnight, so you just have to tell yourself to endure it for the last three hours. It’s going to end and be beautiful tomorrow,” Kotwicki said.

Some sailors had their skin separate from their nails because their hands inside their race gloves were soaked in water for so long that the skin was soft and tearing. A doctor on the dock advised at least one sailor to make the area bleed so it wouldn’t get infected.

At least one boat behind Hot Ticket caught up going into Cove Island because of a wind shift and Hot Ticket was too far north, Bob Kirkman said. Despite giving up time, the J/120 held the lead and won their class on the Cove Island Course in 43 hours, 56 minutes, 34 seconds.

Hot Ticket also won the Corinthian Trophy, the best overall non-pro boat in the race.

Riptide: trust is key

John Walton, 72, of Grosse Pointe and Johnny Walton, 26, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, raced their fifth Mackinac as a team of just two in the double handed category.

They finished on Riptide, an Express 27 sailboat, in 44 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds on the Shore Course. To date, they have three 1st Place finishes, two 3rd Place finishes and one 4th Place.

“It’s sort of our father-son time together every year,” John Walton told Shifting Gears. “He’s a very good sailor and we work well together. We both trust each other when other one is down sleeping.”

Walton, who is commodore of Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, said of 2026: “It was one of the toughest I’ve done out of about 35 (races)” from Port Huron to Mackinac.

Notso EZ Money: happy tears

Jacki Shea, 31, of Midland, Michigan, still can’t believe she won the first Mackinac race she ever sailed. “Crossing the finish line, I was crying. Happy tears. It was such a beautiful sight to see.”

She gave a shoutout to Skipper Sam Medwid of West Bloomfield, Michigan, owner of Notso EZ Money, a Dehler 44 SQ sailboat, for inviting her to join the Notso EZ Money crew that raced the Dehler 44 SQ sailboat to victory in 43 hours, 27 minutes, 48 seconds on the Cove Island course.

“Going into the race, I had the opinion that it was more like a marathon, where most people are participating in order to do it and accomplish it, rather than specifically setting out to necessarily win,” Shea told Shifting Gears. “You can’t decide the race an hour in. I really just wanted to get through the storm in one piece and keeping some of the winning pressure off was helpful.”

Shea said, “Then we start winning and start getting serious about hiking and weight distribution. I’m getting on the crew about, ‘Let’s hike! Get up on the rail and out of the cockpit!’ I’m sure that sounded great coming from a first-time racer. But they were really good sports.”

My Way: feeling good

Mark Miller, 69, of Lake Orion, Michigan, won his 13th race from Port Huron to Mackinac, this time on My Way. He proudly defeated his former sailboat, (Tufty, previously named Comfortably Numb, after the Pink Floyd song) which placed 7th, and his former crew (Bali Ha’i), which dropped out.

“It was a tough race,” Miller told Shifting Gears.

“Thing is, I would say current sailors aren’t as tough as they were 50 years ago,” he said. “It’s a different time. I think a lot of people who are sailing do it because they love sailing but don’t like getting their asses handed to them. They don’t like it when it’s rough. Some diehards say they want to sail across the ocean. Well, I like getting back and meeting family in two days. I love to sail but I don’t want to be beating out there in waves for two days.”

Most of all, Miller feels grateful for this year. He sold his boat after the 100th Bayview Mackinac Race after placing 3rd in Class and planned to take a summer off. Then a surprise cancer diagnosis kept him busy with treatment.

“I discovered I had cancer last yer about this time,” Miller said. “It was in my neck. I ended up having surgery in my throat and on my neck in September. Five weeks later, I had chemo and radiation and finished in December. I feel good.”

My Way, an XC 38, finished the Shore Course in 40 hours, 46 minutes, 1 second.

Winners: Cove Island Course (259 nautical miles)

• (Class A) Natalie J: Dr. Philip O'Niel III of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club, CCA

• (Class B) Catapult: Joel Ronning of Excelsior, Minnesota

  Wayzata Yacht Club

• (Class C) Eagle One: Timothy LaRiviere of Detroit, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club

• (Class D) Notso EZ Money: Sam Medwid of West Bloomfield, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club

• (Class E) Hot Ticket: Mike Kirkman of Novi, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club

• (Class F) Janine: Kevin Lemonds of Grosse Ile Township, Michigan

  Grosse Isle Yacht Club

• (Class G) Patriot: Michael Valuck of Bradenton, Florida

  Bayview Yacht Club

• (Class OO) Unleaded II: Etienne St-Laurent of Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

  Bayview Yacht Club

Winners: Shore Course (204 nautical miles)

• (Class H/Doublehanded) Riptide: John Walton of Grosse Pointe, Michigan

  Crescent Sail Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club

• (Class I) Shape: Everett and Cameron Benedict of Plymouth, Michigan

  Port Huron Yacht Club

• (Class J) Shamrock: David R. Keys of Detroit

  Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit Sail Club

• (Class K) Courage: Spencer Channell of St. Clair Shores, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club

• (Class L/Cruiser Racer) My Way: Eric Petersen of St. Clair, Michigan

  Bayview Yacht Club, Port Huron Yacht Club

• (Class M/Cruiser Racer) Trav’ler: Jeremy Thompson of Fort Gratiot, Michigan

  Port Huron Yacht Club

• Class N/Cruising) Challenge: Greg Doyal of South Lyon, Michigan

  Lake Shore Sail Club, Great Lakes Yacht Club

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PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

Sheppard and his brother had made a pact that they would pass Round Island Light at the finish line together this week — one last time for John Sheppard of Linden, Michigan. But a heart incident derailed the plan.

Even in his final days in hospice in January, John told crew members who visited him that he was fighting to live to July. He planned to be on that boat.

Steve Sheppard, 63, a builder from Grand Blanc, Michigan, ended up bringing his brother’s ashes for their final trek on Lake Huron together.

“He wanted that one last race,” Steve told Shifting Gears.

John had already sailed 50 races but waited to apply for Grand Ram status, which reflects 50 trips from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, just so he could walk on stage with his little brother on Tuesday, July 21.

“Not a lot of victories over the 50 years. The race for us has always been about family and time spent together. Our best finishes were 2nds and 3rds. We never placed 1st,” Steve said. “This year, we came in 4th place, dead last,” after seven boats in their class dropped out.

Overall, 87 boats that started the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race on Saturday, July 18, didn’t finish. High winds and rough weather that broke rigging and made racers so sick they couldn’t compete. One racer was swept overboard.

Skipper Steve Sheppard spent 58 hours, 35 minutes and 51 seconds racing Tir Na Nog on the Shore Course. (The crew also included Grand Ram Phil Conger, 78, of Harrison Township.)

“Tir Na Nog,” which translates to “land of the young,” is named for an island in Irish mythology that offers eternal youth, beauty and joy.

A father dies and sailing brings peace

The Sheppard boys grew up in Clinton Township, Michigan, near 16 Mile and Gratiot. Mom was principal at Lakeshore High School in St. Clair Shores. Dad, a former social studies teacher and football coach, was principal at John F. Kennedy Jr. High when he died of cancer in 1970 at age 45.

“My dad died when I was 13 and left my mom with seven kids,” said Dr. Bill Sheppard, 69, of Naubinway, Michigan.

Longtime sailor Jim Butler stepped in to help his sister and her five boys and two girls.

“My mother’s brother, as we each got to be about 14, started keeping us occupied by sailing. There is something so calming when you’re on the water. But sailing itself, it’s science and art together,” Bill Sheppard told Shifting Gears. “There’s an old joke that you can learn to sail in an afternoon and learn to sail better the rest of your life. It’s teamwork, trusting each other and confidence. It’s a great metaphor for a way to be a good person.”

Over the years, everyone saw John and Steve as the heart and soul of Tir Na Nog while their huge family scattered around the country. The family belongs to Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

“John and Steve took care of the boat and took care of each other. Steve was John’s best friend,” Bill said. “Everybody saved up vacation so we could see each other, coming from Washington D.C., and Boston and Chicago.”

‘The most important thing’

Greg Hummel, 65, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who oversees the program that tracks Grand Rams for Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit, said the Sheppard plan to bundle Ram years and take the stage together is unique.

“Steve called me after he put in his application back in February, and said ‘Hey, would it be OK if I finished off my brother’s application, too? He actually has more Mackinac races than me, but his plan was to do his application and finish this year so we both would get our Grand Rams the same time,’” Hummel said.

“It really touched me. What a story about family and sailing. The most important thing to me these days is that my brothers are on board. I get it, man,” Hummel said. “I was really glad Steve could accept on behalf of his brother posthumously.”

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The final goodbye

On Wednesday, July 22, a day when so many Mackinac sailors left the island, Steve and Bill Sheppard and their daughters and longtime crew member Jim Herchenbach of Libertyville, Illinois, climbed aboard the C&C 35 MKI and left with a plan.

“John loved doing the race and wanted to do it every year,” Steve said. “The race frustrated us a lot of years. But there’s no pressure on the trip home. That’s why I chose to spread his ashes where and when we did. I waited until sunset.”

Ellie Sheppard, 20, a University of Michigan student, has 48 races left to reach her father’s Grand Ram status. “He’s been sailing forever, the whole time I’ve been alive. It’s something he loves and I’m so glad I got to do it with him and my Uncle John.”

Waited for the wind to die down

As the sun dropped down in the sky, they paused at the southeast corner of Bois Blanc Island, a place that inspired laughter and memories. During a trip home by boat, John and a cousin found themselves reminiscing while sailing toward a freighter they thought was a lighthouse.

“They’d had rather large gin and tonics. I had to tell him it was a freighter,” Steve said. “That’s the spot where we did the ashes. It was 7ish and we waited for the wind to die down a little bit.”

They expect to arrive in Detroit by Saturday, he said. “We’ll stop in and mooch a meal off my sister at her house in Port Sanilac and keep going.”

John Sheppard, a computer engineer, never married and saved up all his hotel and airplane miles for family members. They described him as stubborn and funny and loved by dogs and children. He died at 67.

After all these years of gratitude, the sailors see the Sheppard-Butler clans as one.

“We’re more like a family of 13 now,” Bill said.

Cousin Mike Butler had a heart attack and ended up with a stent, so he couldn’t sail this year. His sister Mary Butler of Kensington, Maryland, is a veteran racer on the boat. Their father James E. Butler is the original owner of Tir Na Nog who wanted the boat to remain in family, so he trusted Steve Sheppard to keep the tradition going.

While Tir Na Nog remained in the race this year, rough weather forced the boat out of the 2020 Bayview Mackinac Race at the north end of Saginaw Bay with heavy air and extreme seasickness, Steve said. “Only three of six people were functioning.”

If not for those conditions, the brothers would’ve walked the stage together a year ago.

Not gone

Maggie Sheppard, 29, of Farmington Hills, Michigan, joined the delivery trip with her father, Bill. They feel the presence of John Sheppard on the boat even now.

“I definitely think he’s still here. Not physically, but his spirit is here for sure,” Maggie said. “Doing the race to honor him, taking his ashes up on the race and then spreading them from the boat on the way back down — I think that’s what he would’ve wanted.”

Well, sort of.

“John was an incredibly smart guy and very bullheaded,” Bill said, laughing. “We were joking after toasting him with his beloved Scotch that he would’ve critiqued everything we did. I think he would’ve, in general, approved. He might’ve suggested a fancier Scotch or more poignant words at the time of scattering his ashes.”

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PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

By Sunday, Lomasney decided to keep all his boats and race again.

No boats sank this year. And the race had only one man overboard.

“I just need a shower and a Bloody Mary,” Lomasney said Monday after finishing the race while walking past the Pink Pony on Mackinac Island.

Yet sailors have talked for days about the brutality of the 2026 Bayview Mackinac Race, a competition that broke rigging, crushed spirits and incapacitated veterans sailors with seasickness. Eighty-five boats retired within 24 hours.

Here are a few thoughts from sailors who talked with Shifting Gears:

Blue Eyes: ‘devastating’

• “That was the toughest, most devastating race I’ve been in in all my 31 races, just the length of heavy weather and waves. The other crews had broken mains and too many people with seasickness. I did have three people get seasick. I think I broke my big toe. I haven’t looked. It’s black and blue. I just put a sock on it … I haven’t looked.” — Pat Hoy, 56, of Port Sanilac, Michigan, skipper of the Erickson 35 MKII sailboat that placed 3rd in Class after 43 hours, 40 minutes, 15 seconds on the Shore Course

  

• “I thought I’d never get on a boat again. This was the second ugliest race I’ve ever done, after 1985. We had 30 knots this time, 50 then and 18 hours straight.” — Crew David Lomasney, 58, of Fort Gratiot, Michigan

Shape: ‘trying to survive’

• “Seriously, this is the roughest race I’ve ever been in. And, yes, we won but I still hate sailing. It was miserable. This beat the heck out of us. It was like a washing machine. All of a sudden, I don’t think I want to be a Grand Ram (with 50 races). When you’re younger, it has everything to do with the people you admire who appreciate your accomplishments. Some people I really love are going to be dead and it’s just not that important to me anymore. I was thinking how much fun I could be having. I love my wife and she has been waiting for me for 40 years. It’s time to make her stop waiting.” — Skipper Chris Benedict, 60, of Plymouth, Michigan, whose Santana 35 sailboat placed 1st in Class and 2nd overall after 40 hours, 47 minutes and 11 seconds on the Shore Course

• “This was rough off the start but that’s what sailing is. Then the water got smoother and the breeze got lighter and we could race our race instead of just trying to survive.” — Crew Cam Benedict, 33, of Plymouth

  

Avatar: ‘into the deep’

• “It was brutal. While we didn’t like it at the time, what we experienced together is something that will live on. We’ll be proud that we made it through.” — Crew Mike Berschback, 47, of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, who raced his second Mackinac and placed 4th in Class on the Santana 35 after 41 hours, 28 minutes, 29 seconds on the Shore Course

• “Andrew Morlan owns the boat, and his father recently passed away. Everyone on Avatar has a story about Gordon Morlan teaching us something about sailing. When things calmed down on Sunday, somewhere off of Thunder Bay, we pulled out a bottle of single malt, took a shot and sent his ashes into the deep.” — Crew Will Ethridge, 38, a Grosse Pointe native who now lives in Nairobi, Kenya

  

Patriot: tethered from the start

“We evaluated multiple models for weather and came up with the best way. We had the right tactics. The boat was tuned. We had wind up to 40 knots, 10- to 12-foot seas and only broke one (small) thing. At the beginning of the race, our crew was lifejacket and tethered in.” — Dr. Marc Rosenthal, 71, of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan who won a 1st in Class for the first time, sailing the Beneteau First 36.7 after 46 hours, 23 minutes, 38 seconds on the Cove Island Course

Epic: windless

• “At one point, we were way out there, first overall. Then the wind stopped about 30 miles from the finish. Boats from behind caught up. You’re doing less than 1 knot while the rest of the boats are doing 5- to 6-knots.” — Skipper Ray Adams, 80, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, who placed 5th in Class on the Beneteau First 42s7 in 39 hours, 35 minutes, 35 seconds on the Shore Course

• “This race was the toughest I’ve done. Eight hours of brutal sailing followed by a beautiful day that featured a couple hour stretch when the wind completely disappeared. Everyone who competed, and especially those who were able to finish, should be so proud. I had a blast.” — Crew Tiffany Ellis, 45, of Detroit

Resolute: brutal

• “The first day was shitty. Only two of us didn’t puke and the rest did multiple times. No one slept. Everything was wet, from the blankets to the clothes. The race was just brutal.” — Crew Jacob Ferguson, 28, of Detroit, who placed 5th in Class on the C&C 110 after 40 hours, 49 minutes and 41 seconds on the Shore Course

Janine: first time ever …

“It was miserable the first day and nice the second day, the opposite of a normal Mackinac race. It’s the first time I’ve ever thrown up. The wind, the waves. But I rallied.” — Crew Thomas Lemonds, 40, of Grosse Ile, who placed 1st in Class on the J/109 in 46 hours, 18 minutes, 6 seconds on the Cove Island Course

Mostly Harmless: wheel ripped apart

“The owner, Warwick Smith (of Grosse Pointe Woods), had a custom carbon fiber wheel made. The boat got hit by a wave about the size of a bus, and the guy driving had hold of the wheel … It was so forceful that (the situation) pulled the wheel apart. The driver handed the broken piece to someone else and just kept driving.” — Eric Reno, 61, of Troy, Michigan, shore crew for the Beneteau First 42 TM that placed 5th in Class after 47 hours, 11 minutes, 5 seconds on the Cove Island Cours

Final detail on how many boats did not finish

Bayview Mackinac Race spokesperson Colleen Robar had confirmed to Shifting Gears that as of Monday 85 boats had retired from the race and 105 remained. Bayview Yacht Club said it planned to release final numbers on Tuesday.

Update: Robar confirmed by text to Shifting Gears immediately after this story posted that the official race record will reflect 87 boats retired from the 2026 Bayview Mackinac Race of 194 that crossed the starting line; 50 retired and 56 finished on the Cove Island Course, and 37 retired and 51 finished on the Shore Course.

Note: Phoebe Wall Howard, who has written about competitive sailing since 2017, is the daughter and wife of Mackinac racers. Pamela Wall was married to Robert Wall until his death in 2021. They sailed (and won) his last Mackinac race in 2014 on Chippewa, their Tartan 34C.

More:

Man overboard: Rescuer gets rescued during 2026 Mackinac race

Brutal conditions break rigging, sicken sailors

Swiftsure snaps a mast in 102nd Mackinac Race

Solo Mackinac sailor with broken ribs describes ‘insane’ rescue

Miracle rescue after sailor tossed overboard in 101st Bayview Mackinac

Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

In early July, Dave Paschke made headlines after helping pull seven people from Lake St. Clair as their boat began to sink during sudden storm conditions.

Then 15 days later — on Saturday, July 18 — approximately an hour after the start of the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race, Paschke was tossed overboard during a sail change on Fast Tango. Now he can’t help but wonder about the connection between the two potentially life-threatening incidents.

“I feel like I just paid it forward,” Paschke told Shifting Gears on Monday, sitting on a dock by the North American 40 sailboat he raced. “I said to somebody Friday night, ‘I probably paid it forward for this race.’ My friend was, like, ‘Don’t say that.’ And I said, “Hopefully I did,’” said Paschke, 59, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

His experience on Fast Tango is the only known man-overboard incident during a brutal race that began with 190 boats and saw 85 retire by Monday due to extreme weather, seasickness and broken boat equipment.

What happened

“We were taking the chute down and I was on the low side of the boat,” Paschke said. “The wind pulled the chute and I was in the wrong spot. I was on the outside of the chute, so when the wind comes and the chute goes back out again, it takes you with it. And it took me with it.”

He tried to grab the lifelines on the way down, stumbled and went into the water.

“I was involved in the kite take down,” said Kellen McGee, 37, of Chicago. “I saw the kite fill up (with air) and flip Dave over the lifelines. He was right at my feet but my hands were full. I noticed it was a gentle flip sideways. He gave us the OK signal from the water, the diving signal,” — which is a fist bump on the head.

“Now the spinnaker we were trying to take down had gone into the water and it was acting like a big sea anchor, pulling the boat around in a direction we didn’t want to go,” said McGee, a physicist and global racer.

Crew is working as quickly as possible to get the racer back into the boat.

“I’m thinking, ‘This sucks. It’s going to take 20 minutes out of the race,’” said Paschke, who has sailed more than 25 Mackinac races. “I wasn’t scared. It was more a higher level of being adjusted to what the hell was going on.”

The sail wrapped around Paschke’s waist and pulled him over lifelines that only reach the knee, said Shawn Hughes, 64, of Dexter, Michigan, a veteran of 40 Mackinac races. “At the time, it was flat water, warm and sunny. Seas might have been a foot.”

Until that moment, the crew had been focused on strategy and navigation.

“The wind velocity picked up a little bit and shifted forward on us, so the angle of the wind to the boat was no longer suitable for the spinnaker. We needed the jib, a triangular front sail,” said Tim Prophit of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, skipper of Fast Tango and past commodore of Bayview Yacht Club. “We had four or five people pulling the spinnaker in, and Whitey got the sail filled partially with air and it just flipped him right off the boat.”

Fast Tango immediately stopped the boat by “stuffing it up, head to wind,” took the sail in, cleared the lines and fired up the motor, said Prophit, who declined to discuss his age and said he self-identified as a 32 year old.

Art LeVasseur, 74, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, was the first to shout “man overboard” and point at Paschke without interruption, following MOB protocol.

But Paschke realized that he couldn’t look upwind because rolling waves washed over his head and filled his mouth with water. He just focused on the boat’s location.

It’s blowing 15- to 18 knots, not a storm.

“We motored less than 2 minutes to where he was and picked him up. We were going away, losing ground on the race course,” said Prophit. “Rules say you can use the motor to pick up someone but you can’t advance your position.”

The crew deployed lifesaving equipment and pulled Paschke toward Fast Tango.

Cliff Stagg of Edgewater, Maryland, grabbed an arm. And Moore grabbed a leg.

“It was like watching cannibals fight over the last chicken wing,” Prophit said.

Crew calls Paschke “Almighty Whitey.”

His takeaway from the experience: “I was thinking about developing new sailing gloves that have webs in them so when you tread water by yourself, it works better.”

This incident is the first man overboard (MOB) for Prophit, who just finished his 75th Mackinac race between Port Huron and Chicago. Fast Tango arrived on Mackinac Island at 11:40 a.m., after racing 47 hours, 30 minutes and 54 seconds to place 7th in class on the Cove Island Course.

Grant Moore, 30, of Port Huron, told Shifting Gears, “We’re always prepared for something like this but when it happens, it’s like, ‘Oh, shit.’”

Eric Brieden of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, is the youngest member of the Fast Tango crew at age 19 and the only one of four racers in his family to complete the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race. (His father Geoff Brieden raced on Shine Box, a Farr 40 sailboat, in the Chicago Mackinac Race a week ago and won the class. This week, Shine Box retired with broken rigging. Eric’s older brothers Bryan and Thomas raced on Trim, a Morgan NM 36 sailboat, which also retired.)

“I’ve never seen waves that big on the Great Lakes,” Eric Brieden said after his fourth Port Huron to Mackinac race.

As crew detailed the rescue with Shifting Gears, Stagg sat on Fast Tango and listened quietly. When asked his thoughts, he said, “I’m just so happy.”

Prophit, like many racers on island, said he was exhausted and hates paperwork. He plans to make an incident report to the appropriate officials in a timely manner.

Phoebe Wall Howard has covered competitive sailing since 2017.

More:

Brutal conditions break rigging, sicken sailors

Swiftsure snaps a mast in 102nd Mackinac Race

Solo Mackinac sailor with broken ribs describes ‘insane’ rescue

Miracle rescue after sailor tossed overboard in 101st Bayview Mackinac

Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

At issue for Kurt Kromm is not wrongful termination, because he was offered the opportunity to return to work after providing notarized financial records that showed he was telling the truth about his conduct.

Kromm, 60, an electrician who worked 11 years at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville that builds Super Duty trucks, earned more than $200,000 in 2025 while averaging 60 hours a week. He said he was stung by the distrust and immediately applied for a job with another company for higher pay and was hired, as first reported by Shifting Gears.

Guilty until proven innocent

Ford and Aramark, the company that operates the payment kiosks and video surveillance system at the self-serve snack markets, should be held accountable for their attack on Kromm’s character, he said.

“I wish they would have just called the police. At least I would have been innocent until proven guilty and had some time to defend myself,” Kromm told Shifting Gears.

“I had people call me from work who said they all heard I was fired for stealing,” he said. “You can’t call somebody a criminal if they’re not a criminal.

Defamation covers both libel and slander. A plaintiff must show a false statement purporting to be fact, communication of that statement to a third person, fault amounting to at least negligence and harm caused to the reputation of the subject of the statement, according to Cornell Legal Information Institute.

In this instance, the facts indicate that Aramark made an allegation about Kromm to Ford and to the UAW that turned out to be unfounded. Before Kromm could prove his innocence, his reputation had essentially been destroyed within the company, he said.

Yet Aramark had access to Kromm’s payment record before alerting Ford or the UAW because it was in the kiosk system on May 9 at 3:38 a.m., Kromm noted.

When ‘kiosk functionality’ is an issue

J. Will Huber, a defamation lawyer based in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, wrote to Shifting Gears: “Mr. Kromm is a highly skilled tradesman with decades of experience. The accusations of theft made against him were absolutely false. The proof of his innocence was available to or in the possession of both Aramark and Ford from the very start. Mr. Kromm paid, but he was nevertheless labeled a thief and removed from the plant he devoted 11 years of his career to. The way Aramark and Ford handled this situation was unacceptable, and the facts of this case give rise to substantial legal claims that Mr. Kromm intends to pursue to the fullest extent of the law.”

Ford responds

In response to questions about potential legal action against the automaker, Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch told Shifting Gears, “We don’t comment on the specifics of pending litigation. We are working to review the limited instances where Aramark kiosk issues have been raised.”

Aramark acknowledges ‘review’

Aramark sent a statement to Shifting Gears after nearly a week of not responding to requests for comment about what measures the companies were taking to prevent false accusations.

Chris Collom, Aramark vice president of corporate communications, updated his response to Shifting Gears from 10 days ago to include the boldface: “We understand the concerns these reports have raised and are reviewing the instances in question. We remain focused on operating with integrity and accountability.”

When asked to comment on the electrician hiring a defamation lawyer to address conduct involving Aramark, Collom told Shifting Gears, “You have our statement.”

‘About time’

Ford employees who work in different parts of the U.S. have said that Aramark self-service kiosk payment machines in Ford snack markets have a reputation for problems. Workers said that equipment often doesn’t work properly and receipts don’t print. Allowing a worker to swipe a credit card instead of punch in a PIN code has led to timed out transaction failures and workers may walk away unaware the system glitched.

“I’m doing what the union should be doing. “They should be standing up and pounding on the table and saying this is unacceptable. You don’t treat people this way,” Kromm said. “Ford shouldn’t automatically fire someone and Aramark shouldn’t be making allegations without doing their research.”

In addition to paying UAW dues, Kromm is also a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

The UAW confirmed earlier this month that the firings of Kromm, and also assembly worker Nick Nabozny from Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne for alleged theft of Doritos and Ritz crackers, are under review.

Kromm and Nabozny had extensive records of snack payments made with Aramark kiosk machines. Nabozny was told his payment process timed out, and he said he never would steal Doritos and Ritz crackers. (Shifting Gears reviewed dozens and dozens of itemized payments he made in 2026 alone.)

Nabozny, 38, of Harrison Township, is a third-generation Ford employee who has worked for the company nine years — until mid-April. He said he remains hopeful this grievance will be heard so that he may return to work and support his family. Assembly workers have urged him to keep the faith.

Ford said it did not have an update on Nabozny’s status. He was told by his union officials that grievance review may take up to two years.

4 questions about legal case

Kromm interviewed multiple lawyers in different states to find the right fit.

Huber is no stranger to high-stakes litigation, defamation and other speech-based tort cases — wrongful acts that cause harm or loss and result in legal civil liability. He has experience at both trial and appellate levels with successes that include landmark state and federal victories in various parts of the country.

Huber responded to the following questions from Shifting Gears:

1. Why did you accept this case? What is it about Kromm’s fact set that makes it compelling? “Mr. Kromm is a highly skilled tradesman with decades of experience. The accusations of theft made against him were absolutely false. The proof of his innocence was available to or in the possession of both Aramark and Ford from the very start. Mr. Kromm paid, but he was nevertheless labeled a thief and removed from the plant he devoted 11 years of his career to. The way Aramark and Ford handled this situation was unacceptable, and the facts of this case give rise to substantial legal claims that Mr. Kromm intends to pursue to the fullest extent of the law.”

2. Is your focus on Ford and/or Aramark? “Our investigation is ongoing, and we are looking at both.”

3. Why do you see this as potentially important to employees beyond Kurt Kromm? “Workers say these kiosks have been failing for years, and nothing was done about it. Mr. Kromm happened to have the records to prove he paid. Most people don’t. As more of our lives run through automated systems, a machine can accuse you of theft and you are the one left proving you are innocent. If the companies behind these machines are not held accountable, any of us could be labeled a thief for something we did not do.”

4. What do you say if Ford or a reader say that Kromm was offered his job back so no claim may be made for damages? “Ford’s belated offer to re-hire Mr. Kromm and his efforts to find substitute employment do not reverse the harm of being branded a thief. Kentucky law has held for decades that falsely accusing an employee of theft is defamatory per se. For statements that are defamatory per se, the law presumes Mr. Kromm’s reputation has been damaged in fact. Even as to lost wages, when Ford took his paycheck based on a false accusation, the law expected him to go find another one. He did. That is called mitigation, and it is not a defense for Ford. Neither Ford nor Aramark has ever published a formal retraction, and neither has done anything to disabuse those who heard the accusation of its falsity. Quietly offering Mr. Kromm his job back many weeks after firing him is not the same as clearing his name.”

More:

Ford worker in Kentucky fired over alleged cookie theft

Ford worker in Michigan fired over alleged Ritz cracker, Dorito theft

UAW worker yells at Trump, suspended by Ford

Ram sponsors White House cage fight

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

“You don’t realize how Mother Nature is relentless,” he told Shifting Gears on Sunday. “You see the spirit going out of your crew because they’re exhausted by everything. People can’t get off the bunk or the floor, they’re getting so seasick.”

The crew of Firefly, a J/35 sailboat, fought against pounding rain and crashing waves on Lake Huron before retiring from the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race that began on Saturday, July 18.

“Our boat had nine people. Safety has to be a thing. The waves were constant, the water, the hours of disorientation,” said Henley, 63, of Memphis, Michigan.

To date, 85 boats have retired after crossing the starting line, leaving just 105 in the long-distance race, Collen Robar, race spokeswoman for the Bayview Yacht Club, confirmed to Shifting Gears. (Bayview initially announced 201 registrations, then 11 withdrawals prior to the start for reasons including weather, equipment concerns.)

Crewmates reflect

Across the table from Henley sat Jim Lenskold, an eight year Mackinac racer.

“We were pulling back as much on the sail as we could to minimize the wind and waves. We saw 40 mile an hour winds. Then we were heading into the heavier winds and darkness,” said Lenskold, 62, of Asbury Park, New Jersey.

“The scariest race I’ve done, we made the other choice — to stay in — and we stuck it out and it worked in our favor,” he told Shifting Gears. “It was a hard decision (to retire) but it’s not worth risking safety. It just isn’t.”

Lenskold hadn’t consumed food in 24 hours. “No time. We were just pumping out water on the boat, our gear was so wet.”

Henley smiled and said, “It was so rough that I couldn’t open up anything. No eating. I had a can of Coke. Wait, I think I had half a meat stick. It was a tease.”

Shifting Gears stepped away from the table when server Amanda Westrick delivered steaks, pancakes, eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee.

“We’ve got a lot of steak and egg orders for sailors today,” she told Shifting Gears. “I love these sailors when they come through. They’re doing something they love.”

It’s not uncommon to see Mackinac racers fill tables at Maria’s. Every year, Westrick said, “we put the live camera on in the restaurant and watch the sailors take off. We see these racers year after year. I’m just happy everyone is safe.”

Broken ribs

Pamela Wall, harbormaster at Port Huron Yacht Club, told Shifting Gears on Sunday that she took a call from the crew of Caliber, which retired due to crew injury, according to the race tracker.

A huge wave hit the Tripp 33 sailboat — and then things turned bad, she said. Sailor John Cronk, at the helm, was picked up off his feet by the strength of the water and slammed onto the edge of the cockpit, Wall said.

“They went into Harbor Beach, put him in an ambulance and took him to the hospital with broken ribs,” she said.

“There are going to be a lot of stories told on the island,” Wall said. “An event like the Mac race is a shared experience that brings strangers together like friends.”

Freedom

Ray Templin, 59, of Clay Township, Michigan, had hoped to sail his 25th race and achieve Old Goat status this year on Freedom, a Catalina 42. It retired with equipment failure.

“The Great Lakes can be a shared adversary, a peaceful view or a moment of reflection,” he told Shifting Gears. “I love racing. It’s the challenge of chasing the wind.” He plans on returning.

Rescue and ‘carnage’

Freedom Marine Recovery Services, which operates out of Lexington and Port Sanilac, Michigan, posted a video on Facebook Saturday that said, “Attempted to assist a Mac Race boat that had a sailor with a separated shoulder. Not able to help them due to wave height.”

When contacted by Shifting Gears, company owner Wayne McCarty said the sailboat was Pirouette, an Abbott 36 owned by Jeff Else of Detroit. It eventually reached the harbor in Port Sanilac, McCarty said. The race tracker lists the boat as “assumed retired.” Colleen Robar, race spokesperson said the incident had not been officially reported to racer organizers.

On Sunday, Freedom Marine Recovery shared an image of a sailboat being towed and wrote on Facebook, “Time to start cleaning up yesterday’s carnage. Headed to meet up with TowBoat US Port Huron (Capt Ben) and get this vessel home. Broken steerage cables, and throttle cable issues preventing it from making it under its own power.”

McCarty confirmed that the broken vessel had retired from the race.

A final update will be released after all boats have finished, race organizers said. An awards ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday.

More:

Brutal conditions break rigging, sicken sailors

Swiftsure snaps a mast in 102nd Mackinac Race

Sailors prep for high wind, safety in 102nd Mackinac Race

Solo Mackinac sailor with broken ribs describes ‘insane’ rescue

Miracle rescue after sailor tossed overboard in 101st Bayview Mackinac

Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

Harsh winds of up to 50 knots and waves up to 10 feet that caused severe seasickness and broken rigging — including snapped masts and shredded sails — caused an exodus from the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race on Day 1.

“We’re hearing a lot of horror stories,” said Pamela Wall, harbormaster and past commodore of the Port Huron Yacht Club, told Shifting Gears late Saturday, July 18.

“I’ve been told about seasickness where they don’t have enough crew to handle these kind of conditions. One boat here realized their rudder shaft was wobbling. If your rudder falls off the boat, not going to be able to steer. Hydraulic failures. Two boats here are dismasted and there may be more coming. A lot of equipment issues,” she said.

“Also, just the idea of facing Saginaw Bay — right now there’s sustained 20 knot winds but gusting in the 30s. That’s daunting and just hard on humans. ‘Seasick Saginaw Bay’ is its nickname. It’s choppy, and in this weather it’s going to be super choppy. If you need all hands on deck, and you’ve got six people puking their guts out, you’ve got nobody to sail the boat.”

Wall has sailed 29 Mackinac races that led to eight first-in-class wins.

“It’s not unusual to have a storm right off the bat,” she said. “I talked to a woman who got through the first squall today, then the wind died. They had blue sky again and everything was beautiful with 12 knots of wind, then suddenly it got bad again. They couldn’t see anything with the wall of water and so much wind. It was so early in the race when it happened, and there are a lot of boats right around you. They couldn’t see a damn thing. Those conditions are frightening.”

Wall said at least a dozen boats had returned to Port Huron by 11 p.m. on Saturday. She returned to the club to greet racers after they called seeking permission to tie up. She finally went home to bed at 1 a.m. Sunday, as race boats continued to retire.

The Yellow Brick tracker indicated at least 75 boats had quit the race by 6:29 p.m. on Saturday, noted sailor Ben Wixon of Grosse Pointe Park, administrator of the Lake St. Clair Sailors page on Facebook with 6,500 members.

No boats reported serious injuries. Bayview confirmed to Shifting Gears at 3:07 a.m. Sunday that 82 boats had officially retired by midnight Saturday.

The total number of registered boats starting the race had dropped from 201 to 190 due to weather concerns, equipment failure and crew losses, Bayview said.

Shifting Gears interviewed skippers and crew who left the race Saturday.

Here is a snapshot of what racers described after docking in Port Huron:

Le Rêve

• Le Rêve (The Dream), an Arcona 380 sailboat, skippered by Rachel O’Byrne, 50, of Detroit, shredded a jib sail. “Things were gradual and predictable and then sudden,” said O’Byrne, a veteran of 10th Mackinac races. Her self-inflating life jacket actually set off in the cockpit. Crew described wind that knocked the boat over so far over that the tip of the boom went into the water.

  

Ciara Nordstrom, 16, of Grosse Pointe Park, said, “You can’t see anything.

Dara O’Byrne, 47, of Grosse Pointe Park, said, “We were counting bodies on board.”

Graham Rebain, 19, of Detroit said, “Winds went from 35 knots to 50 knots in 20 seconds. It hit us pretty hard, and we brought in a second reef (to reduce sail size). We were all in the cockpit. It was pretty intense.”

Kailani

• Kailani, a C&C 121 sailboat, pulled out of the race for medical reasons when a crew member began exhibiting strange behavior. John Quinlan, 65, of Marco Island, Florida, a veteran of 17 races from Port Huron to Mackinac (and 13 from Chicago to Mackinac) said a crewmate starting acting and talking in ways that didn’t make sense. That sailor was sent for medical evaluation.

Warsaw

• Warsaw, a One Design 35 Turbo sailboat, didn’t break anything. But owner Tim Peters, 69, of Grosse Pointe Park, said the wind was blowing 38 knots and the crew decided the fight through hours of brutal weather wasn’t worth it. “We knew something was probably going to break.” Ben Peters, 28, of Grosse Pointe Park, said, “We’re all disappointed.”

Jake Orhan, 27, of Grosse Pointe, said, “Coming back was fun. We hit 20 knots with a reefed main (sail).”

Kinsail

• Kinsail, a Thomas 35 sailboat, sustained severe equipment damage. A stainless steel rod that holds up the middle of the mast — the intermediate shroud — snapped. Corey Wisniewski, 50, of Put-in-Bay, Ohio, said, “Breakage could lead to catastrophic failure of the mast.” The situation was precarious.

Skipper Drew Blackburn, 31, of Toledo, Ohio, said his father, a heart attack survivor, had already bowed out of the race because of the smoke generated by the wildfires.

When Swiftsure motored down Black River past Kinsail — with a snapped mast and rigging all over the deck — sailors from Kinsail and all the other boats tied up at the Port Huron Yacht Club stood watching, stunned. It was an unbelievable sight.

Sailors posted racing status updates on the Lake St. Clair Sailors page, too:

• Doris Hellenbart wrote, “Our boat Firewater messaged they lost their mast. Everyone is good.”

• Bob Mann wrote “Mystic here. Upper shroud pulled out and snapped the mast. All ok.”

• Lynz Boston Jackson wrote, “Just saw Contender go under the bridge with no Boom. And the ID35 didn’t look to have a backstay.”

• Tracy Jobs Baisden wrote, “Angry Cupcake is out. No damage just beat from the weather not taking chances five of the nine multi hulls have retired.”

• Jon Ureel wrote, “We (Sisu) dropped and turned and put in at Port Sanilac.”

• Karl Kuspa wrote, “I’ve checked in with a good number of them. No injuries on the boats I’ve reached. Mostly sail and boat damage … Pendragon, glory, trident, sleeping tiger, golden girl, shine box, sagamore are all good.”

• TJ Gaffney wrote, “Worst blow since ‘92, and that wasn’t until later in the race….we may be looking at another ‘85.”

(In 1985, nearly a third of the fleet of 316 boats withdrew amid gale force winds and rough water. That was the year that legendary Tomahawk sank.)

At 8:44 p.m. on Saturday, Bayview Yacht Club race chair Mica Reardon emailed a memo to racers urging them not to contact the U.S. Coast Guard unless it’s an emergency. The memo instructed racers arriving in Port Huron after 9 p.m. to go into an open slip or tie up on a face wall, as instructed by the Port Huron harbormaster, Mike Davenport.

“The extreme winds experienced on the course resulted in numerous retirements due to sail damage, equipment failures, and other issues,” Reardon said. “While we know this is disappointing after the preparation and commitment that goes into this race, we are grateful that, based on the information available to us at this time, ALL COMPETITORS ARE SAFE.”

Editors note: Phoebe Wall Howard is the stepdaughter of Pamela Wall.

More:

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Sailors prep for high wind, safety in 102nd Mackinac Race

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Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

When the mast came down, all the rigging came down with it, crashing into 9-foot waves in Lake Huron. They were in trouble.

“We tacked to go toward shore to get less wind and calmer seas,” said Ehlert, 69, of Otsego Bay, Michigan, who was driving at the time of the incident.

“After we tacked, we saw the headsail go over the port side, followed by the top half of the mast. The mast was dragging in the water. And it was still blowing up to 30 knots,”he told Shifting Gears just minutes after pulling into the Black River next to the Port Huron Yacht Club.

Crew included both new and seasoned sailors and no one panicked.

Sailors called for a headcount immediately, making certain no one went overboard.

They couldn’t turn on the engine until everyone made sure all the lines and rigging had been pulled out of the lake and put back onto the boat, to avoid jamming the propeller.

They worried the broken mast would punch a hole in the hull.

“We were just running with the waves, downwind, trying to keep the boat steady,” James Lippert, 58, of Montague, Michigan, told Shifting Gears. “Our lines were in the water. The head sail was dragging in the water. “

As he spoke, Lippert adjusted his feet away from the wind meter, which is normally sitting at the top of the mast. It was laying on the deck.

The boat tied up around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, and crew members used a knife to cut and tear away the main sail from the mast. At times, they worried the rigging could collapse. But the team worked together to take everything apart piece by piece.

“We don’t normally quit unless someone is at risk. We don’t want anybody hurt. We don’t want to do damage to the boat,” Ehlert told Shifting Gears. “But I’m disappointed it happened and we had to quit racing.”

The boat, based in Holland, Michigan, is headed to Torresen Marine in Muskegon for repair. Sam Kinder, 24, of Muskegon, head mechanic at Torresen mechanic who was racing on Swiftsure and helped coordinate the response. “Everybody is fine.”

By 8:45 p.m., Saturday, 30 boats had retired, according to Bayview Yacht Club.

Boats were steadily returning to the Port Huron Yacht Club through the night.

This is a developing story. Another story on other boats will be filed shortly.

More:

Sailors prep for high wind, safety in 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race

Solo Mackinac sailor with broken ribs describes ‘insane’ rescue

Miracle rescue after sailor tossed overboard in 101st Bayview Mackinac

Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

“Bloody Marys for $5, boats and men in kilts. I’m in Disneyland,” said Lisa Kressbach, 62, of New York City, who flew to town to celebrate the event and check off a bucket list item. “I was in Italy a week ago on an archaeological dig but this is even better.”

While 201 boats initially registered to compete in the multi-day race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, the total dropped to 190 by race morning. Reasons included weather concerns, equipment issues and lack of crew, Colleen Robar, Bayview Mackinac Race spokeswoman, told Shifting Gears.

While sailors come from all over the world, the boats are from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, California, Connecticut, Texas, Missouri and throughout Ontario, Canada.

In a year where wildfire smoke has dominated the news in the run-up to this Mackinac race, and race organizers have urged sailors to take extra safety measures as needed, prep by Make Hanke, 60, of Franklin, is impressive by every measure.

Hanke, owner of Bad Habits, a Beneteau First 40.7 sailboat, has a nurse aboard with sailor Katie Doherty, 47, of Troy — and also a nebulizer device to treat chronic respiratory issues and an automated external debrillator (AED) device to treat sudden cardiac arrest.

“Everything we can think of, we’ve got it. I operate with an abundance of caution. Crew first,” said Hanke, an Eagle Scout and certified master captain with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Daniel Sweet, 45, of Grosse Pointe Woods, said crewmates on Bad Habits are looking forward to a fast and bumpy race. “Hopefully the wind blows away the smoke and we get to the island by Sunday night.”

On Saturday, the National Weather Service open lake forecast predicted Lake Huron waves of 6- to 9-feet until midnight with 15-20 knot winds and gusts up to 30 knots.

“That means it’s gonna be rough,” said C. John Anter, 64, of Port Huron, past commodore of the Port Huron Yacht Club and crew on Good Lookin,’ a J/105.

Final words before heading to the racecourse

This is a snapshot of life from docks in the hours prior to 11:30 a.m., the first start:

• Chuck Stormes, 63, of Grosse Pointe Farms, owner of DeTour, an Italia 9.98: “Weather has been all over the place. It’s been very unstable. I’ve been looking for days and nothing is settled in. We’ll see.”

• JB Shumaker, 40, of Grosse Pointe Farms, crew on DeTour: “The key is to just stay on the boat.” (His first victory came then two decades ago racing with Stormes on his J/105.)

• Mark Sawka, 66, of Grosse Ile, crew on Tar Baby, a Tartan 10: “Smoke — visibility — is a big unknown for navigation. Our goal is to get ahead early and stay there. We have a boat of Old Goats.” (An Old Goat is a sailor who has raced 25 times to Mackinac.)

• Don Lang, 83, of Grosse Pointe Woods, owns Tar Baby, named for his road paving company. “This will be my 49th race on this boat.” He began the morning with an exercise bike routine, coffee and yogurt. (When sailors finish 50 races, they achieve Grand Ram status.)

• Owen Knupp, 18, of Port Huron, a varsity hockey and football player, is racing his first Mackinac on Angry Cupcake, a Corsair 31. I got a good night’s sleep. I’m definitely excited. I didn’t even eat breakfast but I’ve got protein bars in my bag and they bought Jimmy John’s (sandwiches) for us later.”

• Jeffrey Muir, 54, of Fort Gratiot, crew on Blue Eyes, an Ericson 35 MKII, slotted in for one of three injured crew members. “This will be fourth Mackinac and first on Blue Eyes. I found out six days ago. I’m 70% excited and 30% nervous.”

• Sam Pillsbury, 64, of Rochester Hills, owner of Full Tilt, a C&C 37, turned heads while walking to his boat while wearing a kilt cut from Guthrie tartan, honoring his mother. The crew carries bagpipes to honor Scotland with music during the race. “I hope the weather treats us well!”

  

• Kelli Bracken, 44, of Port Huron, crew on Full Tilt (also wearing the Guthrie tartan), said, “I was too excited to sleep last night.”

• Kellen McGee, 37, of Chicago, crew on Fast Tango, a North American 40: “Everybody on the boat has been doing a lot of races. Our energy level is up. It sounds like we’ll have an upwind slog so it’s guaranteed to be uncomfortable. Everybody will … bouncing around.” (She pointed to her race shorts and announced to the crew, “My zipper is broken I can’t fix it. But I have underwear on underneath!”

  

• Denise Kulas, 65, of Canton, crew on Day’s End, a Catalina 320 WK: “I never wished more for fair winds and calm waters. We’re expecting some heavy air and waves. I hope everybody stays safe.”

The race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, which begins on Lake Huron just beyond the Blue Water Bridge to Canada, has two routes: The Shore Course is 204 nautical miles (235 statute miles) and the Cove Island Course is 259 nautical miles (298 statute miles).

Within two hours of the first start, a downpour drenched sailors. Harsh weather generous means strong breeze. And strong breeze delivers a faster race.

Irene Hoy, 54, and her daughter Meghan Hoy, 19, of Port Sanilac, planned to race on Blue Eyes until they were put on the injured list. They’ll be glued to the tracker.

“It’s such an adrenalin rush for that first 5 or 10 minutes — you’ve been preparing and waiting for this to happen and, all of a sudden, the gun goes off and you’re like, ‘let’s go,’” Irene Hoy said after the race began, before driving to the island. “The hair will stand up on your arms. Then it’s, OK, game on. You settle down and focus on strategy.”

More:

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Fast Tango skipper appointed by Whitmer: Why it matters

Miracle rescue after sailor tossed overboard in 101st Bayview Mackinac

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PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

When passing Presque Isle, just north of Alpena, he “thought the whole town was burning down.”

Prophit is headed to Port Huron as one of 201 race boats registered for the 102nd Bayview Mackinac Race that begins on Saturday, July 18.

“There is not a single star visible. In fact our closest star, we call it the sun, was visible for about 8 seconds today,” said Prophit, past commodore of Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit, whose North American 40 sailboat just finished the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac.

Shifting Gears reached out to sailors on three boats traveling across Lake Huron late Wednesday amid reports of challenging visibility conditions.

A usually beautiful multi-day trip has become miserable with smoke from Canadian and northern Minnesota wildfires resulting in air quality warnings and public health alerts urging people to stay indoors, especially people with asthma and other respiratory issues.

Smoke blanketed the city of Port Huron on Wednesday night.

Fast Tango: ‘Holy … where did that come from?’

Sailors including Prophit had trouble spotting huge vessels in thick smoke.

“Whitehawk is a 104-foot behemoth and should be easily visible,” said Prophit, referring to the famous sailboat. “It startled me when I finally saw it. I was like, ‘Holy f*ck, where did they come from?’ I usually see it coming from miles. I saw them coming from 1,500 feet.”

Boaters navigated Lake Huron through the night with extreme caution.

Racers will depend more on electronics than their own eyes if conditions remain the same or get worse, he said. “If we had a GPS outage during the race, it would be a clusterf*ck of epic proportions. You can’t see. If on Saturday it’s like it is today, you’re not going to be able to see shit.”

He hoped to arrive at the Port Huron Yacht Club on Black River by 10 a.m. Thursday, for what will be his 44th Bayview Mackinac Race (in addition to 31 Chicago Mackinac races).

Prophit warned: “Be prepared to sail in what looks like the zombie apocalypse. The sky is gray. The water is gray. Everything is a dystopian, monochromic gray.”

Whitehawk: ’Freighters … didn’t see them’

Griffin Spinney of Newport, Rhode Island, told Shifting Gears that when he motored on Whitehawk past Saginaw Bay late Wednesday, the air felt like “a smoke-filled bar.”

Visibility during the day dropped to maybe half a mile with no evidence of sun, Spinney said. “We’ve passed within two or three miles of a few freighters and didn’t see them. It’s like they were not even there. We’re monitoring them on radar, AIS and radio.”

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) — often used by boats in fog to prevent crashes — broadcasts location, course and speed to other vessels while receiving the same data. It’s use is required by the Chicago Yacht Club for the long-distance race as a safety tool. Bayview Yacht Club does not require it.

Whitehawk was the first boat to arrive on Mackinac Island after 47 hours, 11 minutes in the race from Chicago last weekend.

When getting ready to leave the island on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m., Spinney said, he looked out the window and assumed he was seeing fog. “Then you get hit by this wave of smoke and realize that’s not fog. That’s smoke. This is the most smoke in the air I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

Racing in fog on the East Coast is different because it’s “basically sailing in a rain cloud,” he said. “It’s dry here. And you can see ash on the boat, small particulate.”

Good Lookin’ depends on alarm system

When Mark DenUyl of Marysville motored his J105 sailboat Good Lookin’ past Rogers City with his son and daughter, they noticed everything “smells terrible” from the smoke.

“We can see nothing,” DenUyl said. “We’re just going by our instruments.”

They set the alarm on their AIS device to alert the crew to any vessel within 1,000 feet, he said. It alerted them to a freighter not visible to the naked eye.

Good Lookin’ used its running lights all day and crew slept with float coats in case of emergency, DenUyl said. “All of our safety gear is near us. We’re more concerned about getting hit by a power boat if they’re going fast. It’s important to be prepared.”

He and his kids are experienced Mackinac racers used to bringing home the boat. But these conditions feel very different.

Riley DenUyl, a senior at the University of Michigan, said she couldn’t tell time of day all day Wednesday. “You can’t see the sun or the sky. You can barely see land.”

Pamela Wall, harbormaster for the Port Huron Yacht Club, told Shifting Gears that sailors arriving from Detroit and Mackinac Island report similar experiences.

“They couldn’t see the buoys until they passed them,” she said. “You can usually see 10 to 15 miles when you’re out sailing on a clear day.”

“A state air quality monitor near Marquette in the Upper Peninsula registered an air quality index of 955 Wednesday evening,” reported Planet Detroit, a non-profit news organization that focuses on public health issues. “The Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index identifies levels above 300 as hazardous — the scale’s highest category.”

That air is pushing down past Port Huron south toward Detroit.

“Michigan is likely to breathe wildfire smoke from the Minnesota and Ontario fires all summer, said Mike Flannigan, a wildfire expert and professor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia,” reported Planet Detroit. “How much smoke you see will depend on the wind direction.”

Chris Gloninger, senior climate scientist at Woods Hole Group in Cape Cod, wrote Wednesday that these wildfires are burning longer and more intensely now.

Like cigarette smoking

Dr. Reid Stromberg, fleet surgeon for the Port Huron Yacht Club and a clinical associate professor at Central Michigan University, urged sailors to consider precautions on Saturday.

“An N95 mask, like what you’d wear back in the COVID days, will keep you from inhaling particulate debris in the air,” Stromberg told Shifting Gears. “Asthmatics should have their inhalers. And people without asthma may have respiratory stress. With this air quality, it’s like you’re smoking a pack (of cigarettes) a day.”

Port Huron is expecting high 80s on Saturday with a storm warning. Weather forecasters are monitoring wind direction and other factors impacting the spread of wildfire smoke into Michigan.

Editor’s note: Phoebe Wall Howard is the wife and daughter of PHYC past commodores and longtime Mackinac racers.

More:

Solo Mackinac sailor with broken ribs describes ‘insane’ rescue

Fast Tango skipper appointed by Whitmer: Why it matters

Other sailor/sailing stories here

PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

Union officials had not responded to requests for comment since June about the firings and protocol involving payment kiosks operated by Aramark. Shifting Gears submitted these questions this week:

• How is the UAW working with Ford to improve the dependability of Aramark processes so that UAW members aren’t wrongfully accused of theft?

• Since payment problems have been identified in at least three plants (two in MI and one in KY), what is the UAW doing to prevent problems in other plants?

UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson issued a statement to Shifting Gears on Monday, July 13, that said, “Our local unions are currently addressing this with the company, with assistance and support from the UAW Ford Department. Some of the issues that led to these incidents are complicated, so we are working methodically to ensure they are addressed, and these cases are resolved for our members.”

‘Draconian’

Electrician Kurt Kromm, an 11-year Ford employee, was fired in mid-May from the highly profitable Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville after being accused of stealing a $1.95 cookie. His bank statement proved he paid. Kromm, a diabetic, also had documentation showing his low glucose alarm had activated. (Ford since has offered Kromm his job, plus lost wages. He went to work elsewhere.)

“I remain deeply disappointed,” Kromm told Shifting Gears this week. “After sending the debit card screenshots directly to UAW Vice President for Ford Laura Dickerson and UAW President Shawn Fain, I expected them to use the union’s platform, representing more than 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, to challenge Ford’s excessive, harsh, and draconian zero-tolerance canteen theft policy. They did not.”

Nick Nabozny, a nine-year Ford employee, lost his job in April at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, after being accused of taking Ritz crackers and Dorito chips at a total cost of fewer than $8.00, he said. The payment kiosk allegedly timed out and failed to process payment. Nabozny has been told by the union his grievance may take up to two years to be resolved. After being fired, Nabozny noted that he received in the mail a $100 gift card from Ford for perfect attendance in 2025.

While Ford factory workers interviewed by Shifting Gears have described ongoing problems with the Aramark self-checkout machines, concern isn’t limited to blue collar workers. Privately, white collar workers say they wonder about their risk, too.

What actions are Aramark, Ford taking?

Shifting Gears reached out to Aramark, submitting these questions on Monday:

• What’s Aramark doing to address malfunctions with the machines?

• What is Aramark doing to secure the integrity of the video review process to avoid jeopardizing the interests of its client, Ford Motor Co.? Aramark has sent Ford videos of employees allegedly stealing and the workers are clearly attempting to pay.

• Is Aramark planning to install additional signage around the kiosks to alert customers to remain in place for a set period of time to avoid risk?

Aramark did not respond by Tuesday, July 14.

Shifting Gears also reached out to Ford to find out what it’s doing to ensure employees aren’t being wrongfully accused when Aramark machines malfunction, since employees face a zero tolerance theft policy that depends on video surveillance.

Ford did not comment on the matter by late Tuesday, either.

Coverage of the Ford snack firings has been picked up by print, broadcast and digital media outlets throughout the U.S. and globally, widely crediting Shifting Gears.

Readers have written to ask why Ford, an iconic family company that has taken pride in its treatment of UAW members, does not appear to be involved in immediately addressing these problems. Nabozny, a third-generation Ford factory employee on track to earn $125,000 this year with overtime, has pleaded to get his job back.

Factory anxiety

After reading the story about Nick Nabozny getting fired, Michigan Assembly Plant worker Derrick Lester, 47, of Plymouth reached out to Shifting Gears to share his experience.

“About a month ago, I was really hungry and went into the same place Nick went. I don’t usually buy breakfast but I was super hungry and went to get a sausage, egg and cheese croissant. When I went to pay, I tapped my credit card and it seemed to scan just fine,” Lester, a 26-year Ford employee, told Shifting Gears. “But I was paying extra attention after Nick was fired. And it said ‘machine error’ and wouldn’t take my payment. If I had turned around, I never would have known.”

So he put the croissant back. As he went to leave, he saw an Aramark employee stocking coolers with yogurt and fruit. “I told him, ‘Hey, the machine’s broken. I scanned it and it won’t take payment.’ So I put my stuff back.”

‘Don’t worry’

The Aramark employee’s response surprised Lester.

“The guy looks at me and says, ‘You can have it.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so. People are getting fired for that shit.’ I know they have cameras. I hope they have audio,” Lester told Shifting Gears. “The guy said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m in charge of it. I’m giving it to you.’”

Lester hesitated. “He went over to the sliding glass door, took the sandwich and put it in my hand. I’m sure it’s all on camera. I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘I promise.’ I was starving. And I ate it. It was probably 8:30 in the morning.”

He works 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the factory builds the Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup.

Accepting the free croissant haunts Lester, he said. “It’s only because I was paying attention. If I had turned around, it would’ve looked like I was stealing.”

He told team leader James Benson of the incident after reading the story.

“People have gotten so paranoid with this situation,” Benson told Shifting Gears. “They terminated someone who tried to pay. It’s ridiculous. And I told one of our union reps that Nick is really feeling alone.”

‘This is not right’

Lester also called Nabozny, too, to tell him about his food incident.

“I just feel like it’s not right what’s happening to Nick,” Lester said. “I sent that (news) story to my wife. And this whole thing has been eating at me. I have an antiques and collectables business on the side, where I do live auction sales every Saturday night. Nick used to buy little cars for his kids, like Hot Wheels. He’s got a family, you know? This is not right.”

Nabozny confirmed Tuesday that he has cut all extra expenses as his family of four depends on his wife’s job as a social worker.

‘Replace stuff that don’t work’

Lester told Shifting Gears that Ford employees are apprehensive about going into the market. “You’re afraid. You don’t know if it’s going to be OK or not OK. Why take a chance? If people are stealing, they need to be fired. But these payment machines? You should replace stuff that don’t work.”

In retrospect, Lester said he should have noted the name of the charitable Aramark employee but getting back to work took priority. Lester, like Nabozny, is a multi-generational Ford employee whose uncle worked in injection moulding.

“I wish they would let Nick come back to work,” Lester said. “Just give the guy his job back.”

As of Tuesday, Nabozny told Shifting Gears he has received no news from his union about his pending grievance. “Nothing.”

He said he has heard nothing from Ford since the firing. “Shouldn’t there be some paperwork that I was terminated? I’ve never received anything other than the gift card and my Ford benefit employee booklet that arrived in the mail at my home after termination. I just want to get back to work and provide for my family.”

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PS: As a former political reporter at The Des Moines Register, I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — world-class journalists writing news, commentary and features.

“My supervisor told me to go down to the labor office on April 27th around 10:30 a.m. I called my union rep and said, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, ‘I have no clue.’ Then I called my bargaining rep, who said, ‘This is not good. The company is talking about termination.’ And I said, ‘For what?’ He said, ‘They have you on camera stealing snacks,’” recalled Nick Nabozny, 38, of Harrison Township, Michigan.

He described the alleged theft captured by security camera in the market that factory workers use to buy drinks and snacks before, during and after their shifts. The payment kiosks are operated by Aramark.

“The video shows I pulled my card out and used tap to pay. You can see me hold my card there,” Nabozny said. “Now I’m in this labor office, looking at a man wearing casual dress clothes who’s looking at me like this is a murder trial. Like this is the end of the world. He’s just, ‘You’re a thief. You’re done. This company has no tolerance for this.’ He looked at me and said, ‘The transaction, after you left, timed out. Because it timed out, it’s considered theft.’ That’s all he said.”

This is the second Ford firing incident that involves snacks — and questions about potential glitches involving Aramark payment kiosks — reported exclusively by Shifting Gears within the past two weeks.

“I was on track to earn $125,000 this year while saving up to build our dream home. Why would I jeopardize that?” Nabozny said. “Maybe a month after I was terminated, I received a gift card from Ford for $100 for good attendance.”

In May, the automaker fired an electrician from the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, for alleged cookie theft. He found a new job for a higher wage within days. That UAW member, Kurt Kromm, provided Ford with a notarized bank statement to prove he didn’t steal the Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookie priced at $1.95 and the company offered him his job back. Kromm, a diabetic who was managing low blood sugar when he purchased the snack, has not returned to Ford. His story has been picked up by print, digital and broadcast media throughout the U.S. and globally.

Latest payment glitch: Doritos and Ritz crackers

On Saturday, April 11, Nabozny went into work for his shift at the Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP) from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. After it ended, he stopped at the open market self-checkout and grabbed two snacks for his hour drive home.

Nabozny swiped his debit card to pay at the kiosk. It made some kind of noise that indicated payment, he grabbed his lunchpail off the counter and left, Nabozny said.

“I’ve spent thousands of dollars in this marketplace over the past nine years,” said Nabozny, who provided to Shifting Gears financial records that showed dozens of purchases in 2026 from the factory kiosk.

The video shows he picked up a Milky Way candy bar, looked at it and then returned it to the shelf. Then he picked up a bag of Doritos priced at $3.64 plus Ritz cheese crackers, Nabozny said.

Note: Ford workers at the Michigan Assembly Plant expressed hesitation about going into the market to confirm prices for Shifting Gears for fear of being punished.

Nabozny has been off work since April, told by his union that the wait may range from six months to two years because the grievance process is backlogged.

“I told them, ‘I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I come to work every single day on time. I do my job and go home. I wouldn’t jeopardize my livelihood or supporting my family and two little kids. I don’t have anything on my record,’” Nabozny told Shifting Gears. “This was not intentional.”

Rather than allow Nabozny to be escorted out by security, his UAW bargaining rep said he’d walk the factory worker to the turnstile at the entry gate.

“I gave them my work badge. My bargaining rep left,” Nabozny said. “My UAW committee guy, Donnie, gave me a hug and said, ‘Dude, I’m so sorry. This is not right.’”

It was his first day back after a week of vacation travel visiting family, he said.

Termination meant losing health insurance on May 1, too.

“I call my wife and I’m just worried about our kids. Ezra is 6 and Zeppelin is 3,” Nabozny said. “I cashed out my retirement to keep us afloat. I’m hoping to get my job back at Ford. Everything we have comes from my employment at Ford — my house, things for my kids, everything.”

When Nabozny mentioned that he routinely purchased snacks for his drive home, Shifting Gears requested copies of financial transactions and reviewed in detail nearly 50 purchases between January and April.

“If it was not for my wife, I would 100% be losing my shit. She supports me and talks to me whenever I need it,” Nabozny said. “I just want to work and take care of my family.”

Gabriella Nabozny, a social worker at an adoption agency, added her husband to her health insurance policy while they await the outcome of the grievance protocol.

He started at the Ford Sterling Axle Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, in 2017. He transferred to Michigan Assembly to receive top pay in 2020, the year his wife gave birth to their first child. He went from $22.50 an hour to approximately $32 an hour, Nabozny said.

‘Accountability’

Shifting Gears reached out to Aramark on Tuesday, July 7, to ask what is being done to ensure the integrity of its payment kiosks and whether the multi-billion dollar company is considering hiring a cashier to staff the snack centers at Ford factories.

Chris Collom, vice president of corporate communications at Aramark, said, “We understand the concerns these reports have raised and remain focused on operating with integrity and accountability.”

Shifting Gears reached out to the UAW International communications team plus UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson by phone, text and email seeking explanation or comment about whether the labor union is probing for solutions now that its members have been fired in two states involving Aramark payment kiosk issues. Shifting Gears also called and emailed UAW Local 900 officials seeking comment.

Ford did not provide comment to Shifting Gears about the latest incident by publication on Wednesday, July 8.

‘A good worker’ who ‘wants to work’

James Benson, 48, of Canton, Michigan, an hourly worker and team leader who oversees vehicle dash panel assembly at integrated stamping and assembly within the Michigan Assembly Plant, now calls Nabozny every day.

Benson has worked at eight Ford plants over the past 27 years.

“Nick’s a good worker. He wants to work,” Benson said. “In the auto industry, a lot of people don’t want to come to work. Sometimes 40 to 45% of the workforce just doesn’t show up. People like Nick who show up? It’s a big deal. He learns jobs very quickly. He drives hi-lo (forklift) as well. He rotates through all the jobs. He’s a quick learner. He always signed up for overtime. When it’s nice outside, we have a problem with people coming to work. If there’s a big sports event, people don’t come to work. Attendance issues across the whole automotive industry have been a problem.”

The firing has had a chilling effect on the workplace, said Benson, who worked beside Nabozny at Michigan Assembly.

“He got walked out that day. And a lot of us were questioning what happened. I don’t have ill will toward Ford. We want Ford to be successful. But this kind of thing is happening everywhere with these plants. You’ve allowed a company (Aramark) to come in and their stuff may not be working properly. I’ve never gone into this plant’s market because when I went into the plant market in Dearborn, those kiosks were a nightmare,” Benson said. “I’ve had them where they don’t scan the card. I’m not going to scan something 15 times to try and make it pay. If you’re working 12 hours a day and it’s super hot, that drains your energy. I see all the cameras. I don't even want the perception of a problem. The scanners never seemed to work right and I’d rather starve and drink water to push through a long shift than deal with those scanners.”

‘These kiosks … don’t work very good’

Stealing is not OK and zero tolerance isn’t the issue, Benson said. “But how in the world, given how our operation works, can someone just stand there and keep messing with these kiosks when they don't work very good. People can scan and walk out thinking it’s paid when it’s processing. Dude, people in a factory don’t have time to stand and look at the wheel of death. You’re going to assume it’s going through payment. Now, all of a sudden, you’re a terrible criminal. I mean, Nick worked there. You couldn’t have said, ‘The items you scanned timed out and you need to pay for it?’ You just terminate? That’s crazy.”

Automatic firing without review is a mistake because machines can be glitchy, Benson said. He told of going to a local Speedway gas station, scanning his favorite taquito snack, tapping his credit card to pay and walking out. Days later, when he went back, the clerk recognized him and said his scan hadn’t gone through. He paid immediately.

“If people intentionally steal, fire them,” Benson said. “But can we use some discretion? Please? I would like to see Nick made whole and brought back to Ford. This has shaken him to his moral core.”

Crickets from the UAW

“It’s crazy. I’ve paid union dues for nine years,” Nabozny said. “Not one union rep has reached out to see if I’m OK. I talk to people at work, especially my buddy James. I loved working at Ford. I’d get up at 3:15 every morning, be out of the house by 4:30, and get to work by 5:30 a.m. Some days, I didn’t get home until 6:30 or 7 p.m. with traffic. I don’t know how they can just throw me away.”

Nabozny is a third-generation Ford worker. His grandmother worked at Ford corporate. His mother worked on the Dearborn Truck assembly line, along with his stepfather, a skilled tradesman who repaired machines.

Multi-generational loyalty is commonly recognized at Ford, a family-owned company founded in 1903 by the great-grandfather of board chair Bill Ford.

“The most heartbreaking thing? My oldest (child) asked me two weeks ago, ‘Were you fired? Why are you home all the time?’ I said, ‘No, buddy. I got a lot of vacation time to use,’” Nabozny said, getting emotional and going quiet to keep from crying.

“I think he overheard me talking to my neighbor and I don’t think he really knows what it means. But he’s putting two and two together,” Nabozny said. “Daddy’s home all day long now. I pick up and drop off the kids at school. But I don’t want my kids to know. They don’t need to worry. How can this happen?”

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PS: As a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, a roundup of world-class journalists, I hope you’ll check out the incredible news, commentary and features.

Things had been going so well for the single-handed sailor on the 230-nautical mile course from Port Huron, Michigan, to Mackinac Island in the Mac Solo Challenge that began on Saturday, June 20.

Then, all of a sudden, six-foot waves slammed into Patrias’ 33-foot sailboat. Rapid wind shifts and gusts up to 27 knots on Lake Huron pushed him closer and closer to shore until he ran aground. He let out a mayday to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I said, ‘This is God Speed … I don’t know if this boat’s going to come apart. I’m lodged in the rocks now,” Patrias, 70, of Port Huron, told Shifting Gears in an exclusive interview after his release from the hospital. “Each wave is pushing me closer to shore. Eventually, the boat started to hobby horse, up and down.”

Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes recorded his call at 9:36 p.m. on Monday, June 22, according to a news release written by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dillon Grimsley.

Hearing the mayday on Channel 16, veteran solo racer Blair Arden of Macomb Township, Michigan, who sails Otis B. Driftwood, a Jeanneau Sun Rise 34, contacted Patrias by radio. Arden asked if the boat was taking on water and if Patrias had a survival suit — to put it on immediately.

“I grabbed the suit and go to the top of the staircase,” Patrias said. “The boat is heeling over at quite a severe angle. I’m trying to put the suit on, which is made of nylon and they’re slippery. I’m trying to brace myself. I put one leg into the suit and my foot slips. I fell down the steps, from the top of the opening of the companion way and hit my left side in the back of the ribs. I let out a scream. I couldn’t believe the pain. I landed on the guardrail in front of the sink. So when the Coast Guard checks back in, this is a primary concern.”

Rescuers in a 45-foot response boat launched at 10:22 p.m. from St. Ignace and arrived not far from God Speed at 11:46 p.m. near Calcite, Michigan, south of Rogers City.

“I’m sitting in the boat, bracing myself not to fall again. I’ve got my back against the stairwell. The bow is hitting rock. The rudder is hitting rock,” Patrias said. “It’s 1 in the morning and it’s real dark. There’s no moon, no nothing. You can’t see anything around you. The waves are building and building and building. The wind is staying high.”

The water depth situation can be precarious.

“When I started to make my sail change, I was in 45-foot deep water — and then it went to almost nothing in a very short period of time,” Patrias said. “I don’t see any water coming into the boat but I’m getting violently struck by large waves.”

Patrias saw the Coast Guard vessel on the automatic identification system device required for racers, he looked outside. But they don’t approach. After making contact, the radio goes silent for about 20 minutes.

“They kept calling me frequently and then they quit,” he said. “I said, ‘What are you guys doing? Are you leaving me here?’ They said, ‘No, skipper. We have a helo (helicopter) coming. It’ll be here in an hour or so. We assessed the situation and we can’t get in there. We can’t send anybody in through the water.’ It was so violent, they would’ve gotten beaten up on the rocks.”

As time ticked, the guardsmen checked on Patrias. Then he heard the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City. Waves were hitting the boat and he had the hatch boards in, so the boat wouldn’t fill with water. When he came out, he could see the copter about 1/4-mile away.

“The prop wash from the helicopter was flattening the waves. The waves were getting smaller and smaller,” Patrias said. “It dawned on me they were trying to find a spot to drop a rescue swimmer who could swim to me and get on the boat. They drop him from about 16 feet from the water, he hung from a tether, then disconnected himself and went straight down into the water. He swam probably 60 yards to the boat. The helicopter never came down lower than 250 feet.”

The rescue swimmer deployed at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23, according to the Coast Guard news release written by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dillon Grimsley.

Patrias is thinking, “This is the greatest show on earth. I just don’t know the cost.”

Rescuers change plans

He put the stern ladder down, wearing his survival suit that maintains body temperature, and Patrias listens carefully to the rescue swimmer, who says, “Are you ready to go swimming? You’ll probably have to jump in the water and I’ll try to get you into a basket in the water and we’ll pull you up.”

The rescue swimmer — Aviation Survival Technician, First Class, Stevie Catala Vargas — wears a helmet with a microphone built into it. He makes communication with the pilot, Patrias said. “He’s asking me questions, then calls to the pilot and gives him the assessment. The pilot is too far up and it’s really dark. The pilot says, ‘He’s not going in the water.’”

Coast Guard Lt. Patrick Grissler was the aircraft commander and Lt. Donald Hood was the copilot, Coast Guard Lt. Hanna Robinson told Shifting Gears.

They ask Patrias his age: 70.

They ask about injuries: Likely broken ribs.

“If I had gone into the water, I probably wouldn’t have survived. I could have been beaten on the rocks,” Patrias said. “So they send down another tether. They bring the basket into the boat between the wheel and the pulpit.”

Vargas tells Patrias to climb into the basket. It’s a tight fit.

‘This is insane’

Patrias asks if he can take his ditch bag that contains his phone, wallet, flares and a laptop computer. Only if it can fit between his knees in the basket. (It does.) Knees, arms and elbows must stay inside the basket. Vargas explains that he’ll pull the basket and signal the pilot.

“I thought it would be nice and slow. They pulled me out and I shot up in the air about 30 feet instantly (before being hoisted another 200 feet or so). I was swinging and spinning. It was incredibly violent,” Patrias said. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh shit. This is insane.’ A guy standing in the opening of the helicopter grabs the basket and pulls me towards him. They get me in and they send another line for the rescue swimmer.”

The hoist was operated by Aviation Maintenance Technician, Second Class, Andrew Kelley, Robinson told Shifting Gears.

With everyone safe inside the helicopter, the men buckle into seats and explain that Patrias will be met by an ambulance Everyone exhaled with relief and joy, he said.

“The two guys flying the helicopter … you could see they were geeked about the whole thing. They were all smiles,” Patrias said. “They knew it was risky. The mast was whipping back and forth with, like, a 30-foot swing. The waves were hitting the back of the boat. They didn’t dare risk getting close to me with anything attached to the helicopter because it could pull them down.”

After landing in Traverse City and getting to Munson Medical Center, ER docs discovered Patrias was also dehydrated. It was after 3 a.m., he estimated.

“Our aircrew did a fantastic job safely and efficiently hoisting the injured mariner despite challenging conditions on scene,” Grissler said in a news release. “Many thanks to the EMS crew for their coordination in bringing him to a higher level of care after we landed.”

Patrias said, “The whole thing is a blur.”

Physical prep

Qualifying for the single-handed race to Mackinac involves an intense racing protocol to prove skill and training. Fewer than a dozen sailors registered for the challenge.

Patrias is not an amateur sailor. He has raced as crew 11 times from Port Huron to Mackinac and once from Chicago to Mackinac. This was his first solo race, a bucket list item.

“A lot went into getting the boat ready — thousands of dollars in new sails, all kinds of safety equipment. The cost is pretty extensive,” Patrias said. “Last November, I joined Planet Fitness and I was on a weightlifting program. I actually gained weight. I weighed, like, 171 lbs. and now I’m about 190 lbs. at 5-foot-11.”

Before the race, he stayed on the boat for three days to get acclimated. “You want to remember where everything is, where you don’t have to think about it. If you can’t react, it’s dangerous.”

He wanted to avoid any chance of seasickness, which he experienced when sailing on the Atlantic Ocean and then one other time, sailing from Tobermory, Ontario, Canada to Port Sanilac. “Seasickness will cripple you. Even the best sailors.”

At 6 a.m. race day, he ate his standard yogurt with oatmeal cookie crumbles and nuts. No coffee. He wanted to fall quickly to sleep when needed. He left the Port Huron Yacht Club at 8 a.m. and crossed the starting line at 10 a.m. about 3 miles from the Blue Water Bridge.

Wind was predicted to be light throughout the race, so it was all anyone could do to get over the starting line. With no wind, steerage is tough. Boats had to push off each other to keep from hitting.

Then the wind picked up and sails filled with air.

“I was in 7th heaven. I’m going, ‘These guys in bigger boats can’t even get away from me,’” Patrias said, not knowing what was about to happen. “Up by Thunder Bay near Alpena, it’s six knots and steady but slow. I knew everybody in my class was way behind me. I could hear them reporting on the radio. We had only nine in the race total, three in my class. It’s just starting to get dark, very little wave action. As morning approached, I didn’t take a nap. By midnight, I was still up. I think around 3 in the morning, I slept for 20 minutes.”

Going to sleep made him crazy because he would get back up on deck and see the sails out of trim, going in the wrong direction.

By Sunday, Noel Brockman of St. Joachim, Ontario, “one of the top dog” sailors, was calling Patrias. Brockman said, “I don’t know what you’re doing, man, but that boat is fast. I can’t believe you’re hanging with me.”

(Solo sailors often talk to each other by radio, making sure everyone is safe.)

Not much later, things turned bad.

“It starts to crap out, for at least 12 hours,” Patrias said. “Everyone started to go in different directions, just searching for air, hoping you don’t fall into another hole with no air at all. That’s how Noel got away from me. He was on the radio talking to another sailor and said, ‘I don’t know what he’s doing but he’s staying right with me.’ But then I sailed into a hole. And he kept going. I asked, ‘Noel, you in a hole?’ He says, ‘I’m doing 5 knots.’ And I sat there for an hour and a half not moving.”

Note: Brockman was listed as retired from the race with equipment failure on his Olson 30 sailboat, Quick & Dirty, according to Yellow Brick data.

What might seem like a perfect time to rest actually is not, Patrias said. This is when black flies fill the sailboat and bite sailors all over their bodies, anyplace with exposed skin. “They were biting my face. This was the worst part of the whole thing. Not having wind at all, the environment gets really ugly. I lost sight of everybody.”

Then the wind changed, picked up and Patrias changed sails. He started short tacking back and forth, quick maneuvers done in buoy races rather than long distance. He built in naps, gained distance, passed Alpena, Michigan, and prepared for expected gusts.

But the autopilot on God Speed started acting funny and wasn’t keeping up with the wind shifts when Patrias was changing sails. He was tethered to the boat and he felt calm before he felt the wind spike.

This was foreshadowing.

Exhausted navigator

Sailors who crew can’t fathom what the mental prep involves to race solo, Patrias said. “They make you do at least 100 miles of sailing in no less than 24 hours by yourself, then you have to have evidence you did it. I did that last July. I learned sleep is imperative.”

This was the most challenging for Patrias, because he’s so competitive that he must monitor the landscape at all times. He can tell if a boat isn’t acting right by how much it’s heeling or the sound the sails make if they’re not trimmed properly.

“Even when I tried to sleep, I couldn’t because I knew that the boat was not sailing at its peak performance,” Patrias said. “I’d get up and make corrections. I was treating it like a short race. That was my achilles heel and I knew that going in. I couldn’t get it in my head that it’s OK to go down and take a nap.”

He figured he could last until 10 p.m. and then figure it out. But he realized that his autopilot doesn’t steer by wind where other boats had wind vanes. So if the wind changes, Patrias’ boat doesn’t accommodate that change — it goes in the same direction, he said.

“With directional autopilot, you set it for a compass heading and if the wind switches, the sails aren’t trimmed anymore,” Patrias said. “You’re either too close to the wind and the boat is slowing down or you’re heeling over and it’s going fast but not efficiently.”

Within 20 minutes, sailors might get five wind shifts, Patrias said. “Nothing was stable.”

Perspective from a 35x solo racer

Bob Van Eck, 79, of Fort Gratiot, Michigan, has completed 35 solo races to Mackinac. He inched across the finish line in light air at 8:38 a.m. Tuesday, June 23.

“If you’re going to be out there two or three or four days, you’re probably going to go through one whole weather pattern — light air, heavy air, moderate air,” said Van Eck, a longtime friend of Patrias. “This might be the slowest race in 35 years. We got the heavy air but it came and went.”

Helen Van Eck, 79, watched the race tracker and worried when she saw Patrias appear to drop out. “It was very disturbing.”

Bob Van Eck told Shifting Gears, “Andy is a great sailor. He’s great at trimming sails and he’s very good at boat preparation. Those two, together, get the boat going fast and allow you to do well in races. I’m just glad he’s OK. This isn’t the first time this has happened to folks doing the race the first time. It’s not really a race, it’s a solo challenge.”

He continued, “If you try to push the boat hard 24/7, you can get yourself into trouble. People need to sleep. Two hours into the race, I already had two 20-minute naps. You’re going to be out there along time … There have been numerous occasions when people have run aground at the finish line.”

Sleep is part of overall strategy, just like wind management.

While working on race committee for the solo challenge in years past, Helen Van Eck told Shifting Gears that sailors get so exhausted that they start hallucinating on the boat. “They start seeing people on the boat.”

All sailors, especially the best ones, must remember that the sport can be dangerous. “You can get yourself hurt in a heartbeat,” said Bob Van Eck, who sailed on Tango, a J/40, and placed 4th in Class.

On Monday, June 29, Van Eck and Patrias headed up to Rogers City to motor God Speed the 30 hours or so back to Port Huron because insurance wouldn’t take it on a truck. The underside is pretty banged up but intact.

Is Patrias, who has sailed since 1978, going to try to solo again? “I don’t like long distance racing … It’s very difficult mentally to go through no wind and be bitten and chewed up by flies for 20 hours. It’s torture. The hardest part is sitting still. But sailors are all a little crazy. I’m debating what to do next year.”

Blair Arden, the sailor who offered words of support to Patrias prior to his rescue, won his class. Their third competitor, Noel Gingerich of Harrison Township racing Arch Angel, a Cherubini 37, retired from the race due to weather conditions.

So far this year, the Coast Guard has made 14 helicopter rescues on the Great Lakes that resulted in lives saved or assisted, Robinson told Shifting Gears on Monday.

See video clip of the Patrias rescue here.

The Solo Mac Challenge is run by the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society, founded in 1978. Fewer than 300 sailors have completed the distance challenge.

Editor’s note: Phoebe Wall Howard, Andy Patrias, Helen and Bob Van Eck and John Anter are members of the Port Huron Yacht Club.

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“My direct supervisor came to get me and said, ‘We need to go to the office.’ I asked, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ And we sat in the labor office for like half an hour, waiting. Then the union bargainer came in. He says, ‘This is bad’ And I’m, like, ‘Bad? I haven’t done anything.’ The bargainer says, ‘They’re going to terminate you. They got you on video stealing a cookie,’” recalled Kurt Kromm, 60, who averaged 60 hours a week at Ford in 2025.

“I earned over $200,000 last year. Why would I steal? I spent $1,200 last year in the canteen mainly on Diet Cokes,” said Kromm, who is diabetic.

The video captured a red screen on the payment kiosk rather than a green check mark that reflects payment, Kromm said. “I said there are two kiosks in the break room. It either went through on that one or the other one.”

Over the past seven weeks, Kromm has been accused of stealing, escorted out of the factory by security, told that his paperwork proving innocence required a notary signature, told his case was under review by Ford and then offered his job back working his original shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Kromm found work elsewhere with a pay raise and closer to home.

But he is angry about the unfairness of it all. “I’m thinking, this is the way my career at Ford Motor is going to end? There’s no way I’m coming back. First you tell me I’m a thief and then you tell me I’m a liar for saying I didn’t steal. They were so confident I’d stolen. And then I look in my checking account statement and the $1.95 is frickin’ there.”

Shifting Gears reached out to Ford on Thursday, June 25, to ask whether the automaker would be reviewing its protocol for firing, or investigating the integrity of Aramark payment kiosks, false accusations of theft or how a longtime employee can get fired over a cookie. Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch said, “We don’t talk about individual cases, but there are times when we look into things and realize it could have been handled differently. When that happens, we try to rectify it. We value our employees and want to be as fair as possible.”

The Kentucky Truck Plant — which employs more than 8,000 workers who build the Super Duty, Ford Expedition SUV and Lincoln Navigator SUV — is a financial powerhouse that generated $25 billion a year in revenue in 2023.

Kromm is sharing his story because he can’t believe a global corporation would make a major firing decision of a longtime employee without warning or discussion.

“I do my job. I show up to work every day,” he said. “Just before I got let go, they had a Friday where 500 people didn’t come to work. It was nice outside. People don't show up. They had to shut down the SUV line just to run Super Duty.”

In the labor office inside the factory that day, the UAW bargainer urged Kromm to say he was sorry, Kromm said. He refused to apologize because he wanted to confirm he had not paid. He believed he did.

Shifting Gears reached out to three UAW communications people plus UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson by phone, text and email on Thursday, June 25, seeking explanation or comment. No one responded.

Mike Kerr from the UAW International in Detroit later told Kromm that Ford would change its policy to suspend rather than fire workers in response to suspicious payment kiosk activity, Kromm said. “It’s a little better but the whole thing is ridiculous.”

Time of incident: ~ 3:30 a.m.

On Saturday, May 9, around 3:30 a.m., Kromm felt light-headed and realized he needed something to counter low blood sugar. So he attempted to purchase a cookie from the payment kiosk. He swiped his debit card and the machine signaled a failure to process the transaction. So Kromm went to another kiosk and swiped payment, then ate his cookie.

On Saturday, May 16, a Ford supervisor called Kromm into the office and informed Kromm he was fired for non-payment. He was escorted out of the factory by security. He was not allowed to take his tools. Someone went and picked up his personal laptop off his desk so it wouldn’t be left behind. He exited the building about an hour after his shift would have ended.

This is what happened next, according to interviews and documents reviewed by Shifting Gears:

• On Wednesday, May 20, Kromm sent screenshots of his debit card transaction payment to Ford and his union representative.

• On Thursday, June 4, Mike Kerr from the UAW International office contacted Kromm to say Ford needed copies of the bank statements notarized.

• On Friday, June 12, Kerr informed Kromm that Ford had contacted Aramark, the company that maintains the payment kiosk, to confirm that Kromm actually did pay for the cookie. Ford would be contacting Kromm about returning to work.

• On Wednesday, June 17, Ford notified Kromm he would be “returned to work” on June 22.

• On Thursday, June 18, UAW Local 862 skilled trades chairman Mike Dunn called Kromm to say he would be “made whole” for five weeks of lost wages. Then on Thursday, June 25, he received two checks totaling $28,000 but less than the $33,000 he was told by the UAW that he would be getting.

  

Is this for real?

“I thought this all was a joke, at first,” Kromm told Shifting Gears.

“They said they had zero tolerance for theft, and that this has happened to five people they’ve had to terminate. I looked at my rep and said, ‘Really? Are you shitting me?’” Kromm said. “I said, ‘If you wanted to get rid of me, you could’ve just asked. I’d quit. Why are you doing this over a cookie?”

He frequently worked up to seven days a week, pulling wires, hooking up equipment, fixing robots and automated equipment, running construction, moving factory equipment. He worked in the paint shop, body shop and final assembly.

In addition, Kromm is a member of the plant’s Emergency Rescue Team. Ford sent him to train in Detroit and purchased his helmet and gear, which now sit abandoned in a locker. “I’m well trained on how to save people. Ford spent a lot of money on me.”

Kromm, the son of a Sinclair gas station owner who has always loved cars, also has a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Carthage College in Kenosha and an advanced degree in mediation from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This week, he heads back to the factory in Louisville to reclaim thousands of dollars worth of his personal tools. After 40 years as a journeyman electrician, he is member of both the UAW Local 862 in Louisville and IBEW Local 369 in Louisville.

Kromm had been renting an apartment for 11 years in Louisville. His hometown is Kenosha, and he has moved everything back into the home he shares with his wife of 29 years, Karen Kromm, an electronic health record software trainer.

“Kurt was really proud to work at Ford,” she said, crying. “It’s sad he wasn’t supported by his union. He provides a screenshot of the payment and they don’t believe him? He got his job back because he fought and provided documentation. But to leave Louisville like this? We have relationships there. This has been really hard.”

Kurt Kromm said, “Even when I proved I was innocent, they wanted more.”

He went to the IBEW union hall and had a job within days.

‘We fully cooperate with investigations’

There is an ongoing concern about the electronic payment system on the Aramark payment kiosk, factory workers told Shifting Gears. Items for purchase are displayed out in the open and employees pay through a self-checkout process similar to the supermarket.

“I know the machine malfunctioned. I swiped the debit card. The video showed payment didn’t go through,” Kromm said. “A payment went through at 3:38 a.m. Actually, I didn’t think anything of it because those machines failing happens all the time. When you go into that room, there’s food sitting out. People go up to pay and it doesn’t go through so they leave it there. The (payment) machine asks you to try and try again.”

Shifting Gears asked Aramark about the Kromm case in detail — how Aramark explains the theft allegation when documents prove otherwise, what will be done about concern that payment kiosk malfunctions may result in false accusations of theft and whether the company planned to investigate the issue.

Chris Collom, vice president of corporate communications at Aramark, told Shifting Gears on Thursday, June 25, “We fully cooperate with investigations of this nature. At the same time, we remain focused on providing convenient, flexible snack options that support our hardworking customers every day.”

UAW (non) support

To this day, Kromm cannot process the idea that his union rep urged him to apologize for something he didn’t do. “These people appease the company. I was at Chrysler for 12 years, and my building chairman Curt Wilson would’ve knocked someone upside the head and said, ‘This is absurd.’ But the (Ford) union kept saying, ‘People go back sooner and have better luck if they’re apologetic.’”

Normally, Kromm bought two Diet Cokes each shift at $3 apiece.

“Aramark sent videos to Ford,” Kromm said. “Aramark doesn’t know who people are, but Ford knows me.”

Kromm sounded emotional during an interview on Thursday, June 25. “This is extremely hard for me.”

After being fired, Kromm said he wrote directly to UAW President Shawn Fain and Vice President Laura Dickerson:

“I am trying to figure out the benefit for Ford in making such an arbitrary, capricious, and draconian decision … I feel confident I will be returned to work at some point but I am struggling to see any benefit for Ford in this action. Ford should instead get with Aramark and demand they keep their equipment in good order and working and then work to simply get the items paid for. Ford is also struggling to find good workers who show up for work and I have perfect attendance for the last 2 years and for nearly all of my 11 years at Ford even though I live in Wisconsin and drive 375 miles to work every two weeks. I also have a pile of these Ford coins they give employees for doing good work so this action is very surprising to me.”

Kromm said he also wrote to Mike Fitzsimmons, vice president of global labor at Ford, on Sunday, May 24. The executive initially emailed Kromm that Ford would look into what happened in the Gate 4 break room.

After Kromm was told to get his financial documents notarized, he wrote to Fitzsimmons again: “I contacted you hoping you would do the right thing and just bring me back to work when I showed the charge on my statement. You choose instead to call me a liar and question the validity of my documentation … This malicious and intentional assault on (my) character, morals, and integrity will not go unchallenged.”

Friend and ally

Electrician Victoria Thomas, a 34-year Ford employee who worked with Kromm at Kentucky Truck, said, “He’s an excellent worker. He’s very attentive and very helpful. He’s very intelligent and he’ll address situations. He’s not afraid. Some people don’t like confrontation. I look at it like, if there’s something wrong, we address it.”

When she hit her 30th anniversary with the company, Ford didn’t immediately acknowledge the milestone. Kromm emailed Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time and touted Thomas’ work ethic and commitment. The plant manager came out the next day and announced there would be a celebration, Kromm told me.

“We had a girl who had 30 years in, a Black woman electrician. She was so proud to work at Ford. And nobody was giving an award or anything. She wondered if it was because she was Black or a woman,” Kromm said. “It’s not easy for women getting into the trades. We stand up for each other.”

Thomas told Shifting Gears, “No matter what, Kurt always had my back. I wanted him to come back here. My heart is so broken.”

Break room machine glitches

She said glitches with the Aramark machine are well known among workers, and have even happened to her. “You’ll turn around and want your receipt and you can’t get one. It acts like it’s declining or won’t process and then it sometimes does.”

“I’d know it went through because my bank Navy Federal would show on the phone when I made a purchase. But the payment kiosk would say it’s not processed and asking me to scan my card again. People have even tried to reach out to Aramark to say, ‘The machine took my money,’” Thomas said. “I don’t want an issue so I avoid that room. I have friends who were terminated because they bought a $2 drink. Kurt was the only one who had documentation and he fought it.”

Workers at the plant told Shifting Gears they felt the union should be more assertive on this issue to protect other hourly employees. A UAW member at the Kentucky Truck Plant said, “They allowed a man to be terminated. And that little store should be removed if they won’t take accountability for the fact that the machines don’t work.”

Memories and money

Kromm said he began his new job the day after Memorial Day and went from earning $48 an hour at Ford to $52.51 plus a $10-per-hour bonus.

“No one can find enough electricians,” Kromm said. “Looking back, I just think that I would have been happy to pay for that cookie again, just pay for it twice. I liked the people I worked with. I think we made a great product. If I could somehow go back two months and just avoid this, I would. I was very happy doing what I was doing. I liked working at Ford.”

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“It's literally a statistical fact that Detroit/Metro Detroit is largely blue collar. Detroit isn't known for its fashion internationally whatsoever …” — tweet on X

Editor’s note: As a child, I loved going to the Ebony Fashion Fair at Cobo Hall downtown with my mother in the 1970s. For half a century, beautiful Black models toured the world wearing Givenchy, Dior, Valentino and other haute couture designers while featuring new Black designers and challenging white-focused beauty standards. The event raised money for the United Negro College Fund and projects including sickle cell anemia research. A ticket purchase came with a subscription to Jet or Ebony magazine, which were delivered to our home in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, until I graduated high school in 1984. As for the idea that Detroit’s blue collar roots clash with fashion design? Well, Carhartt remains one of the most successful design brands on the planet.

While Detroit may be known for automobiles, its reputation has finally evolved as a fashion hub that’s capturing the eye of global brands in the competitive hunt for design talent.

“I cannot believe the great work they are doing,” said Millie de la Valette, head of creative talent acquisition for Louis Vuitton, who flew from Paris to Detroit in April.

“Many schools in Europe, even in Italy, are closing the accessories department. Accessories matter for a brand. They sell more bags, shoes or eyewear than ready-to-wear. When you dream of buying something expensive — that you can keep forever — you’re going to buy a bag,” she told me. “And it’s hard to find young designers.”

She travels to schools in Asia, Europe and North America, including the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.

On this day, de la Valette waited to see the annual fashion and accessories show spotlighting students from the College for Creative Studies (CCS) Detroit, held this year in the skywalk of the Somerset Collection. Hundreds of spectators flocked to Troy for the event.

Talent scouts traveled cross-country from Banana Republic, Fear of God and Tapestry.

‘Detroit is really exotic’

Artist Silvia Prada, senior concept partner at Kate Spade in New York by way of Barcelona, is used to visiting London, Paris, San Francisco and Chicago. She said the Detroit design students reflect a strong connection with the city’s art, architecture, electronic music and industrial history.

“It’s all related,” she told me during her stay in Detroit. “For me, being a European, Detroit is really exotic. Just the scale and architecture. It’s stunning, this city … Here, I feel like, omigod. Am I dreaming? I’ve discovered spaces that, for me, feel very sexy. It all feels very special.”

Prada immersed herself in the art and music scenes while visiting friends in the D. She mentioned the Diego Rivera mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Queer art exhibitions and the Guardian Building skyscraper, known for its Art Deco architecture.

Aki Choklat, an internationally recognized luxury shoe designer and author, has become a magnet since moving from London, England, to teach and chair the fashion design department at CCS a decade ago. His focus is shoemaking, accessories and leather goods.

“It’s a challenging world at the moment but I really do see optimism in the students,” he told me. “I’ve lived through a lot … And I think of these young ones, you have the world ahead of you. You can do anything.”

From ice hockey to Stuart Weitzman

Bryce Truby, 24, of Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, began his shoe design internship this month in New York City with luxury brand Stuart Weitzman.

Truby dreamed of playing college hockey after graduating from Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, even taking a detour in Pueblo, Colorado, to play junior hockey. He started exploring digital art and considered majoring in animation after watching “Love, Death + Robots” short films on Netflix, then enrolled at CCS.

A fashion class in Detroit re-routed his life plan. Now he spends 14 hours a day in the studio, including weekends.

“This community is super tight knit. Everybody pushes each other to be better. I’m inspired by my classmates. We gather our own materials, pattern every single piece, sew it all together. I made all the shoes and bags and belts myself,” Truby said. “For the clothing in this collection, I designed the pieces and then worked with three different local sewers and pattern makers to help bring them to life.”

Working with accessories, especially something like footwear that needs to be structurally sound and comfortable, every detail matters down to the millimeter, he said. “It probably took me 12 different prototypes to get the final version of my cowboy boot. You have to think about how many millimeters each stitch is going to be.”

Precision is essential when it comes to technical detail, requiring designers to do things like turn the boot inside out to get them to their final form, then assess stress on the boot seam.

Truby used suede, sheep fur, charred wood (for a boot heel) and ram horns (for a purse handle). Birchwood bark is used for the upper portion of his unique design. The bark needs to be soaked in water, then peeled back and stitched down.

“I like to think of what I do as the middle point between architecture and fine arts, really expressing creativity without too many limits,” Truby said.

The collection he previewed for the fashion show was inspired by a rafting and camping trip to the Grand Canyon last summer. He observed forms of decay, water erosion patterns, copper patinas, birds, coyotes and goats.

But he also talked of living abroad, where he learned that Asian cultures center on high-quality material and silhouettes rather than color. Germans wear slimmer cut clothing. “I’ve gathered ideas from all over.”

His mother Kathleen Truby, the daughter of a welder who founded a building products company, told me she never could have expected this passion for fashion design. “Bryce had no experience with sewing or design. He went from not knowing how to do anything to doing everything.”

The combination of hard-working, blue collar roots meshes well with the arts and writing background of family members, she said. “They threw him into fashion and he took off. He really wants to do shoe design.”

When a dream becomes a mission

Santino Giglio, 22, of Royal Oak, Michigan, is also an accessories designer at CCS. His collection is inspired by time spent in Italy. “I tried to use minimal machine stitching and wanted a handmade, luxury feel. I’m looking to take my bags into production on my own in the near future.”

Spending 8 to 12 hours a day with designers is like iron sharpening iron, Santino Giglio said. “We always bounce ideas off of each other. I have a dream but I hate to call it that — it makes it feel unachievable. However, my goal is to own my own handbag company.”

Bryce Truby’s father told me he went to Streetside Seafood in Birmingham where Santino Giglio works and “the whole restaurant is rooting for Santino.”

Commitment, obsession

What’s strange and interesting for a parent is realizing that exposing children to different cultures really does have deep impact, said Mark Truby, chief communications officer at Ford Motor Co.

“There were times when I thought that I wasn’t sure if the kids were soaking up everything that was going on in their lives,” said Truby, the father of three boys. “We went to Rome, Paris, Budapest, Prague, Cambodia, Athens … I’m so glad Bryce got into CCS and into that community of diverse people. It’s like what you read about Juilliard, the commitment. I love that he found something he’s obsessed with.”

Global talent, Detroit energy

Coming to Detroit is part of a comprehensive talent strategy for Louis Vuitton.

“I try to recruit as many nationalities as I can. I think the mix of different people coming from all over the world is important for a brand. Designers from Europe, Asia, the United States and South America are important to put together,” said de la Valette.

“The way they find inspiration is different,” she said. “The Japanese, when they design, are really focused on looking at themselves. All their thoughts are interior — about their youth, their childhood, all inside their mind. The European is about handcrafted materials and the craftsmanship. The American is an analysis of what’s going on around you. They analyze the needs, what people are consuming and then they start drawing, very merchandise driven. It’s very analytical.”

‘We co-exist gracefully’

Ralph Gilles, chief design officer at Stellantis, earned a bachelor of fine arts in transportation design from CCS and now sits on the board of trustees. Gilles said recruiting Aki Choklat from London — and the enthusiasm he brings — was critical to establishing a powerhouse fashion program in Detroit.

“Detroit has so much natural creativity and an endless amount of resourcefulness,” Gilles said. “The school was always known for automotive. But people like myself love fashion. Creativity comes in all shapes and forms and sizes. I get inspiration from architecture, product design, fashion, even science fiction movies. We co-exist gracefully. That’s the culture of creativity. And the fashion design in that show? It looks like something you’d see in Paris. These are students up there with New York level, Milan level.”

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Her life is a jaw-dropping list of accomplishments with no slowdown in sight.

After nearly two decades as an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist who worked at Detroit stations WWJ, WXYZ and WDIV-TV (as well as CKLW in Windsor, Ontario), Carter taught media law at Michigan State University and designed a sports reporting curriculum. As a member of the National Ski Patrol, she organized and led the first all-female team to ski to the North Pole. She is now an Episcopal priest and associate at St. Katherine’s in Williamston, Michigan, a certified chef and auxiliary member of the U.S. Coast Guard. She’s a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame and the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

“My dad used to think I couldn’t keep a job,” Carter said, laughing.

(Her dad, Ned Carter, was a contract negotiator for the U.S. Air Force and then the Department of Defense.)

At age 75, Sue Carter is giving back to America.

She just hopped a plane to Charleston, South Carolina, to join the crew of the Eagle, a three-masted tall ship that’s so huge and elegant that people may mistake photos for AI images.

The 295-foot vessel was built in 1936 in Hamburg, Germany, and operated by Nazi Germany as the Horst Wessel to train German Navy cadets and Hitler youth. It was claimed by the U.S. as a war prize in 1945.

The Eagle plans to set sail on the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, June 14, and head north while training mostly 19-year-old college sophomores, 3/c cadets, from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

For six weeks, Carter will serve as chaplain on the Eagle. The crew will take part in Sail250 events in Norfolk, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, New York City (leading a boat parade down the Hudson River July 4th) and Boston.

‘Feed your body … feed your soul’

This is the second time that Carter will join cadets during the summer. The Coast Guard asked her back after last year, when she sailed for two weeks from San Francisco to Seattle.

She’s usually dressed in steel-toed black boots, pants, a T-shirt, blouse and cap. She often helps out in the kitchen, so she’s got an official chef’s jacket, too.

“Part of it is that I love cooking,” Carter said. “When you’re working the line, you can get a temperature take on how folks are doing. People may not come to you to talk but, as people pick up their food, you go, ‘I will check in with that youngster later.’ I feed your body but I’m also going to feed your soul.”

The southwest Michigan native — from Niles, just north of South Bend, Indiana — is based in East Lansing now. She learned sailing on a Thistle at age 15 from a friend’s dad on Eagle Lake. She has sailed on Thistle, Laser and Lightning boats. She still belongs to Crescent Sail and Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

“I admire their mission,” she told me.

John Walton of Grosse Pointe, commodore of the Crescent Sail and Yacht Club, said their club is proudly focused on volunteerism and promoting the joy of sailing, so Carter’s actions reflect the mission of the club founded in 1933.

“These are the kinds of members we really like to have,” Walton said, praising the civic-minded nature of Carter’s activity.

From crisis to celebration

As a chaplain deployed on multiple occasions, Carter has worked on immigration enforcement missions. She joined a Coast Guard cutter returning from a three-month duty in the Caribbean that intercepted a boat of 191 Haitian refugees fleeing gang violence and took them back to Haiti.

“That can affect your heart,” Carter said. “The captain was concerned about the young crew. It was their first time at sea. I joined the Spencer in Key West, Florida, and sailed up to Newport News, Virginia. I was available to talk to. I’m trained in all kinds of situations and critical incidents.”

The Spencer is a 270-foot ship primarily used for search and rescue, homeland security, maritime law enforcement, and counter-drug operations.

Outside chain of command

U.S. Coast Guard Senior Chief David Perrin, who is based in Port Huron, Michigan, told me Carter’s chaplain role is critical to the mission.

“A lot of times we think about the needs of our sailors as only making sure they have something good to eat,” Perrin said. “Beyond training, chaplains provide the spiritual support we really need. It doesn’t matter what denomination our chaplains are, they serve all our sailors. We’ve had atheists that go to the chaplain because they’re outside the chain of command and have confidentiality and serve spiritual needs.”

Marty Habalewsky, a longtime public relations executive in Detroit, was surprised and delighted to learn of Carter’s Coast Guard commitments.

“I always thought that Sue Carter was one of the brightest journalists I knew, very astute about everything,” Habalewsky told me. “She would know how to convey the right religious message for young recruits of any religion, any faith. She’s the greatest radio interviewer I can remember. She’s a great listener.”

Her background is wide ranging: A bachelor’s degree in humanities from Michigan State, a law degree and master’s degree in history from Wayne State University in Detroit, a master of divinity from The General Theological Seminary in New York, a doctor of ministry from Northwestern University’s Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State.

Going anywhere, everywhere

“Sue Carter is exactly the kind of person the Auxiliary Chaplain Support (ACS) program envisioned. She is passionate about helping people, dedicated to serving anyone God puts in her path, and willing to go anywhere and do whatever supports the members of the Coast Guard,” said Tom Walcott of Grand Rapids, an auxiliary chaplain who helped establish the program when he was active duty.

“Most ACS chaplains support local stations and units. There are a few, like Sue, who have the ability to go wherever help is needed, especially supporting cutters,” said Walcott, who just finished three weeks on America’s Tall Ship.

“The Eagle is a unique environment where future Coast Guard officers get their first shipboard experience … The cadets work under the direction of and alongside enlisted crew members. This experience will shape them throughout their careers,” he told me. “Ministry on the Eagle includes conducting worship services and Bible studies and sometimes counseling crew members and cadets, but the biggest value added to having a chaplain onboard is the many informal conversations.”

Carter leads services, yes, but she’s often just hanging out.

“I spent 30 years teaching young people,” she said. “At end of the day, a 19-year old is a 19-year old.”

23 sails and teamwork

The ship has 23 sails and more than five miles of rigging. A permanent crew of eight officers and 50 enlisted personnel who work to train up to 150 cadets at a time, according to the USCG website.

Sailing a ship teaches teamwork, Carter said.

Cadets and officer candidates receive instruction from the crew and also take classes on navigation, seamanship, ship and boat maneuvering, line handling, sailing, first aid, weather patterns, damage control and engineering, according to the USCG website.

Helping Coast Guard cadets reflects Carter’s faith.

“Jesus told us, ‘to whom much is given, much is expected,’” she said. “My mother was a Peace Corps volunteer. I was a ski patroller at Mt. Brighton (in Livingston County, Michigan). And, thinking about retirement, I thought about the water — and the Coast Guard auxiliary.”

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We had just toasted her presentation during an 11 o’clock service at the United Methodist Church. I sat in the third pew. (A parishioner sat in the back with his well-behaved companion, a Golden Retriever named, I think, Honey. But I digress.)

During lunch on this beautiful sunny Sunday, a man approached our high top table near the door with a smile.

The man — and his wife — stopped at our table to introduce themselves. He ran an oil change business and knew my friend’s husband. We all talked for a few minutes. I mentioned we had just left church.

Our visitors mentioned that they attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I asked their thoughts on the latest action from the Department of War; it recently changed its designation of their church, seeking to de-list it as a Christian affiliation. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 6.9 million members in the U.S., according to the church website.)

The man shrugged his shoulders and said their members are used to be being picked on, adding that Secretary Pete Hegseth is a great American, a great patriot and a great Christian who models his faith.

Most important, the man said, is that Hegseth recognizes God as savior.

The wife asked, “Did they remove Wiccans?”

Yes, I said.

“That’s good,” she said.

The list expanded, then contracted

My tablemate who I have known since kindergarten, a longtime evangelical Christian who is not a fan of Secretary Hegseth, excused herself and headed to the bathroom.

The Department of War is reducing the number of recognized faiths for our military members from 211 to 31. The revisions are set to be finalized 60 days from the May 20 memorandum, according to military.com.

In 2017, during President Trump’s last term in office, the Armed Forces Chaplains Board actually endorsed expansion of faith and belief codes to “standardize and better identify religious preferences recognized by the military services.”

Our military troops have been notified of the new changes, USA Today reported.

Who’s in

Here is the approved list of faith groups (and codes) for military records:

• Agnostic (AN)

• Baha’i faith (BH)

• Buddhism (BU)

• Christian - Assemblies of God (AG); Christian - Baptist (BA); Christian - Brethren (BR); Christian - Catholic (CA); Christian - Church of Christ (CC); Christian - Church of God (CG); Christian - Church of the Nazarene (CN); Christian - Episcopal/Anglican (EA); Christian - Evangelical (EV); Christian - Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW); Christian - Lutheran (LU); Christian - Methodist (ME); Christian - Non-Denominational (ND); Christian - Orthodox (OX); Christian - Other (CO); Christian - Pentecostal (P); Christian - Presbyterian (PR); Christian - Quaker (QU); Christian - Reformed (RE); Christian - Scientist (SC); Christian - Seventh Day Adventist (SA)

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CJ)

• Hindu (HI)

• Islam/Muslim (IS)

• Judaism/Jewish (JU)

• No Religion (NR)

• Other Religions (OR)

• Sikh (SI)

Who’s out

The U.S. Department of War is dropping categories including:

• Secular faiths that focus on reason and scientific inquiry to make sense of the world, while also emphasizing dignity and morality without supernatural beliefs — such as Atheists, Humanists, and Deists.

• Nature-based faiths that do not focus on a central authority or dogma— such as Wiccans (Dianic, Gardnerian), Druids, Asatru, Pagans, and Heathens.

• Traditions with beliefs such as reincarnation, karma and harmony with the universe: Eckankar, Rosicrucianism, Shamanism, Spiritualism, Troth, and Unitarian Universalists.

Sorry, John Adams

I smiled when I saw mention of the Unitarian Universalists, known for believing in love, equity, interdependence and justice — and including members who identify as Christian, Jewish and agnostic.

It’s been awhile since I’ve thought of the Unitarian Church. I attended preschool at the one on Maumee Avenue in Grosse Pointe 50 years ago. My teacher, who looked like Elizabeth Montgomery in “Bewitched,” always wore pretty bright pink dresses.

Years later, while working as a summertime nanny on Nantucket Island, I sang in the Unitarian Church choir on Orange Street. Afterward, I hitchhiked home.

Now here I was thinking about Unitarians for the first time in forever. I couldn’t help asking this woman, standing with her husband next to our table, her thoughts about eliminating recognition of a faith group that included John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

She shrugged.

The couple turned and left, as I sat and wondered about the idea of government updating its lists of accepted religious affiliations and faith groups.

Utah lawmaker calls news ‘repugnant’

U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, wants the Pentagon to undo this decision, reported Fox10 in Phoenix. “It’s also just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations.”

Retired Air Force officer Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said in a press release the latest order by Hegseth is unconstitutional.

“Reducing the number of religious faiths from hundreds down to 31 is another absolute, clear, filthy and disgusting, unconstitutional, immoral and unethical attempt to force only the approved solution, getting closer and closer to Christian nationalism,” Weinstein said.

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GM has not disclosed who will lead their project.

“We aren’t providing names at this point. The team is being organized now,” GM spokesman Stuart Fowle told Shifting Gears. “We are working to finalize scope and team size for batteries now that the contract has been awarded. So it’s too early to share specifics about team size and reporting structure.”

Kurt Kelty is the battery czar at GM as vice president of battery and sustainability. The company hired him in February 2024 after he spent 11 years at Tesla as senior director of battery tech and six years at Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. battery materials company.

Kelty is scheduled for a GM tech event this month in San Francisco, so analysts and press will be listening closely to what he discusses and how. He oversees a massive battery operation at the automaker, which refers to him as a “globally recognized battery expert.”

The space project is “validation of technological capabilities that GM has developed and that have accelerated under Kurt Kelty,” GM spokesman Jim Cain told Shifting Gears.

It’s intended to support operations at the Moon’s South Pole, which has rugged terrain and extreme temperatures.

“From full-size EVs here on Earth to concepts for lunar rovers, our teams continue to push the limits of what lithium-ion battery technology can do,” Kelty wrote on his LinkedIn nine months ago.

"I’ve been in this industry for over 30 years, starting when lithium-ion was first commercialized. Back then, we were developing batteries for camcorders and laptops, trying to eke out a few extra minutes of runtime,” Kelty said in an August 2025 article he posted from the GM website. “Today, we’re powering full-size electric trucks that can drive 495 miles on a single charge. It’s incredible to see how far the technology has come, and GM continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible—even on the lunar surface.”

For now, it’s wait and see for moon rover news from GM.

Industry observers say they hope Kelty isn’t leaving the company anytime soon. (Three top tech execs have left GM within the past eight months.)

A source inside GM with personal knowledge of the executive team told Shifting Gears that no one should be concerned that Kelty is a flight risk. “He’s really committed to the work we’re doing.”

What’s at stake with moon project

GM is a subcontractor to Lunar Outpost, a Golden, Colorado-based company founded in 2017 that won the $224 million federal contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA has said its Artemis missions are a top priority. Astronauts were planning to drive rovers on the moon by 2028 during Artemis missions.

“NASA is building a Moon Base near the lunar South Pole which will establish the first sustained presence on the Moon,” NASA spokesperson Victoria Ugalde told Shifting Gears. “It will be home base for Artemis astronauts during Artemis missions and will serve as a hub for science, technology demonstrations, and exploration. The Moon Base will be developed through a phased, iterative approach that builds capability over time. By starting with near-term technology demonstrations, robotic missions, and early experiments, NASA and its partners can test systems, learn quickly, and steadily mature the capabilities required for continuous human presence on the Moon.”

Lunar Outpost has submitted every proposal that included GM technology, Cain said. “Pegasus will include GM battery tech, and may include other technologies. Our scope will be finalized over the course of several weeks.”

Pegasus can operate autonomously, via teleoperation or with human crews aboard, according to the Lunar Outpost webpage.

Cain told Shifting Gears in January 2026 that the company had been working on its proposal for a couple years. GM declined to discuss financial details of the project. Lunar Outpost didn’t respond to a request from Shifting Gears for information.

Initially, GM Defense submitted a proposal through Lunar Outpost for a rover that would have included battery electric propulsion, autonomous vehicle hardware and suspension technology, including some Hummer-derived capability, like the crab walk — a steering feature that enables the GMC vehicle to drive diagonally.

That was the Eagle version of the rover, which Shifting Gears previewed in January, and is expected to come later, Cain said.

Explosion upends timeline

While NASA awarded its contracts on Tuesday, May 26, everything came to a screeching halt on Thursday, May 28.

The rocket, built by Blue Origin Enterprises (owned by Jeff Bezos) exploded on its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, while conducting a hot-fire test — creating a classic mushroom cloud.

On Monday, June 1, the NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told CNBC that 2028 now is “within the realm” of possible launchpad repair. But discussion about the impact on the moon project indicates timelines are uncertain as investigation continues.

Astrophysicist Scott Manley, host of a science podcast with 1.86 million subscribers, called the incident an “incredibly violent event” in his May 29 podcast.

This “knocks a big hole in Artemis plans” for a planned lunar landing in 2028, he said.

NASA press relations referred Shifting Gears to Isaacman posts on X. “We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets. We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”

Boeing and GM did the Apollo-era Lunar Roving Vehicle used in 1971-72.

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An octagonal cage is being erected now on the South Lawn. Tourists are posting images all over social media. TV stations including NBCNews have covered in detail construction for the upcoming mixed martial arts fight night scheduled for June 14, President Trump’s 80th birthday.

“This will be the greatest show on earth,” Trump said.

He previewed the fight card by hosting Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitors Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane at the Oval Office on May 6.

The temporary arena, designed to hold more than 4,000 people, is not being built for exhibition matches. These are credentialing matches. Ringside seat sponsorship packages have been selling for $1 million and more, according to Republican lobbyists familiar with the process, NBC reported.

Event sponsors Ram Trucks and crypto.com are being promoted by the UFC this week as part of the UFC Freedom 250.

Mixed martial arts fighters are known for punching, kicking, wrestling and ground fighting. They have trained in wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu. Blood often spills.

‘Security nightmare’

Podcast host Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator, said in March that it’s “weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f-ing war.” He also said during a podcast that month, “I will be there, but I’m not thrilled about it,” calling the event “kind of a gimmick” and a potential “security nightmare,” Forbes reported Friday, May 29.

Trump has attended UFC events for years and recently became a shareholder.

Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 of TKO Group Holdings stock, the parent company of UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), on March 25, according to HuffPost.com, after reviewing his May 12 financial disclosure filing.

UFC President Dana White has credited Trump for helping jumpstart UFC's business and allowing them to run shows on his properties when nobody else would, Sports Illustrated reported Friday, May 29. “Despite the conflict of interest in this event and the TKO Group news, the White House has not publicly commented on the report.”

The UFC Freedom 250 is separate from America250, a non-profit, bipartisan group authorized by Congress to fund public events that honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Freedom 250 is an organization set up and run by Trump-aligned groups to collect millions of dollars from major companies, some of whom didn’t understand the two groups were different, the Wall Street Journal reported in April.

Stellantis cost, knowledge of situation unclear

Stellantis brands — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — are the only autos listed on the America250 corporate sponsor website.

Stellantis, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Neither a spokesperson for Stellantis who is listed as the America250 media contact nor an America250 contact responded to multiple inquiries from Shifting Gears on Friday, May 29, seeking information about the cost of sponsorship.

Stellantis couldn’t be reached to discuss details involving the cage fight, either.

Ram focused on reversing sales dip

Ram Truck sales and market share in the U.S. have dropped steadily between 2021 with 647,329 vehicles to 437,392 in 2025. First quarter sales in the U.S. in 2026 show 4% growth year over year. Dealers are offering big markdowns and incentives on Ram pickups now, according to the company website.

In addition to Stellantis brands, other America250 sponsors include: Best Western, Boeing, BP, Chick-fil-a, Cracker Barrel, Coca-Cola, Comcast NBCUniversal, CVS, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Hilton, JPMorganChase, John Deere, Kraft Heinz, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Palantir, ScottsMiracle-Gro, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Target, United Airlines, UFC, Oracle, NY Stock Exchange, and Procter & Gamble.

Olivier Francois, global chief marketing officer for Stellantis, said in a statement posted online a year ago: “America — its people, its traditions, its history — inspire everything we do, how we do it and the way we dream about our next 250 years together. Our ‘America Made Us’ will be a yearlong campaign celebrating America's 250th anniversary and the people who have made, and continue to make, our brands what they are today.”

‘What the hell is that thing?’

A sample of headlines for the UFC Freedom 250 event:

• Why are people comparing White House lawn to ‘Idiocracy’ movie? (USAToday)

• Tourists divided as UFC cage rises on White House Lawn (Reuters video)

• What the hell is that thing? (Mother Jones photo gallery)

• Dana White says it’s an ‘honor’ to build a fight arena on the White House lawn (NPR)

Bob Kolt, professor emeritus of advertising at Michigan State University, told Shifting Gears on Friday, May 29, that Ram may see cage fighting fans as a target demographic but this situation is complicated — because a lot of people aren’t happy with how the White House is being used.

“A lot of corporations are squeezed by the White House for money and sponsorship … Maybe someone buys a truck,” Kolt said. “Brands have to have a philosophy, attitude and strategy. There is a big downside risk.”

RAM did sign a sponsorship agreement last year with TKO Group Holdings that covers WWE, UFC and Professional Bull Riders, SportBusiness reported.

But that’s not all. Soldiers recruited to fill seats.

Meanwhile, internal memos show the Pentagon is recruiting active duty military service members to appear in uniform at the cage fighting event but they must meet a waist-to-height ratio and meet service-specific physical fitness requirements, The Washington Post reported Friday, May 29.

The Pentagon waist-to-height ratio standard shall be less than 0.55, measured by dividing the waist circumference by height, according to a memo released in January.

“For example, a 6-foot service member would be ineligible to attend if they have a waist larger than 39.6 inches, and a 5-foot-8-inch soldier would not be able to attend if they have a waist larger than 37.4 inches,” wrote silive.com.

Music acts cancel, then soldiers recruited

By late Friday, May 29, sports and news outlets focused on the unraveling of events misunderstood to be celebrations sponsored by the non-profit America250.

“Trump battling UFC show mess on heels of America 250 concert catastrophe,” said silive.com, the daily newspaper in Staten Island, New York.

The idea of “one birthday and two party planners” became clear when musicians canceled commitments to perform between June 25 to July 10 at Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair on the National Mall.

Country singer Martina McBride, The Commodores, Bret Michaels of Poison, Young MC, and Morris Day of Morris Day and The Time — have indicated on social media and in interviews that they didn’t understand event goals and sponsors, thinking it was America250 not Freedom 250.

“I had no clue it was considered a ‘Trump-backed’ event, so that was new to me. My whole thing was ‘tell me what the event is, what it’s about, who you are, and then give me the choice of whether I want to do the event or not,’” rapper Young MC told Rolling Stone magazine. “I was never given that choice. I was told one thing and then it was a bait-and-switch. All the comments I’ve seen from the artists that have dropped out thought it was supposed to be a regular show in D.C.”

Vanilla Ice, a vocal supporter of the president who has performed at Mar-a-Lago, has confirmed he’s honored to perform at the Freedom 250 event.

More:

$1M carmaker gifts for Trump, not Biden

Ford CEO: ‘We can’t walk away’ from ‘critical’ partners

Trump stronghold in Michigan is anxious

Frustrated deputy mayor in Canada explains $4.5B tourism hit to U.S.

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