Michigan residents sat with Michelle Obama at address

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) -- A western Michigan wind turbine company worker and a suburban Detroit General Motors Co. plant manager joined first lady Michelle Obama in her box during the State of the Union address Tuesday night. Bryan Ritterby, 58, of Holland, said he was surprised to get a call over the weekend inviting him to attend President Barack Obama's speech. "I'm just an average Joe," he told The Holland Sentinel. "It's crazy." Ritterby works at Holland-based Energetx Composites LLC, testing materials for wind turbines. He was laid off from his job at office furniture-maker Haworth Inc. in 2009 and completed a training program at Grand Rapids Community College. "I was 55 at the time, and there was just nothing available for someone my age" in most companies, Ritterby said. Alicia Boler-Davis, of Detroit, also was sitting in Michelle Obama's box, the White House said Tuesday. Boler-Davis is manager of GM's Orion Assembly Plant and Pontiac Stamping Plant. In October, Boler-Davis led President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on a tour of the plants during a visit highlighting the approval of a free trade agreement between the two nations. GM makes the Chevrolet Sonic at the Orion plant with South Korean and other foreign parts under a deal with the United Auto Workers that lets GM pay some workers a lower wage to keep pay rates more in line with GM's foreign assembly plants. The Sonic's predecessor, the Chevrolet Aveo, was built in South Korea. A U.S. Marine wounded in Afghanistan is being honored as a guest of U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Republican from Zeeland. Sgt. Coery Gritter was in a vehicle that was hit by a remote-controlled bomb in 2009. He sustained disabling injuries and is being treated at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Gritter enlisted in 2005 after graduating from Holland Christian High School. "Corey's service to our nation is greatly appreciated, and his story is a reminder that we must continue to serve our military and veterans when they return home, as they have so selflessly served us," Huizenga said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Published: Thu, Jan 26, 2012