Wintry Weather Arrives, Ford Unveils New Headquarters, and Best Thanksgiving Cities

Monday, November 17th, 2025

Good morning! Welcome to The Mitten, where we provide you a 5-minute rundown of all things Michigan every morning at 5 a.m., directly in your inbox!

A Kermit the Frog-bearing Jim Henson was one of several fun costumes present at Grand Rapids’ Comic Con on Saturday. See photos of the costumes here and read more in The Goodie Bag.

Liberty Tabletop is the last U.S. manufacturer of stainless steel flatware—crafting every piece in New York from American steel with quality you can feel. Shop Liberty’s collection now for 15% off and free shipping on orders over $149!

🏢 Ford Unveils New World Headquarters in Dearborn

Ford Motor Company unveiled its new, 2.1 million-square-foot world headquarters in Dearborn on Sunday, the first new headquarters for the company in 70 years.

The building will house 5,000 employees by the end of 2027, features a showroom with new and vintage cars, a gallery hall with six kitchens, and six different courtyards that provide large amounts of natural light for the facility.

The company plans to demolish the old building off Southfield Freeway within three years, according to a company official.

You can see video footage of the new headquarters here.

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Thanks to your feedback, we’re excited to announce the addition of The Goodie Bag, a new section at the bottom of The Mitten featuring fun and random stories on Mondays and Wednesdays! Check it out below 😎

Joe

🦌 Michiganders Celebrate Start of Deer Hunting Season

The “Big Buck Pole” at Hilltop Sports was just one business that celebrated the official start of Michigan's traditional firearm deer hunting season on November 15th.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, hunters who wish to participate in the season must purchase licenses and receive tags by mail, and purchase kill tags for any harvests and attach them to the deer with string, wire, or a zip-tie.

Michigan’s deer hunting season will run until November 30th. You can see a calendar with all state hunting season dates here.

❄️ Winter Weather Set to Hit Northern Michigan

A winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service for winds up to 35 miles per hour and six inches of snow was issued for parts of Northern Michigan through 7 a.m. this morning.

The weather system will likely bring a snow squall with blowing snow, gusty winds, and poor visibility on the roads in several parts of the upper and lower peninsula, including Luce, Chippewa and Mackinac counties in the UP, and Antrim, Roscommon, Crawford, Kalkaska counties in the LP.

The heaviest snowfall is expected to take place between 7 a.m. Sunday night through 7 a.m. Monday. You can see a map of counties with projected snowfall here.

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🗺️ Around the Mitten

Statewide: Detroit was the only Michigan city to make a list of the top 100 Thanksgiving destinations in the U.S. (See List)
East Bay Township: A Residence Inn by Mariott with a rooftop bar and apartment-style rooms opened after eight years of construction and planning. (See Photos)
Southeast Michigan: Multiple parishes in the area may close after The Archdiocese of Detroit announced a two-year restructuring process. (More)
Kalamazoo: A new bar, Alley Cat, will be open in the former Ouzos European Grill location that has been vacant for six years. (See Photos)
Lansing: The city will be closing parts of Michigan Avenue from Howard Street to Friendship Circle for paving on Monday. (See Map)
Holland: The Pilot Travel Center off Interchange Drive finished a major renovation, including both a redesigned interior and exterior. (See Photos)

Give the gift of wellness this holiday season.

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🏈 Sports

The Lions offense sputtered, going 0-4 on fourth down in a 16-9 loss to Philadelphia. (See Box Score)
Benches cleared in a full-on brawl after the Red Wings beat the Rangers 2-1 in the Centennial Bowl. (See Video)
Tommy Carr, the No. 18 player in the state’s 2026 class and grandson of former Michigan Football head coach Lloyd Carr, flipped his commitment from Miami (OH) to Michigan. (More)
The Pistons climbed to No. 8 in Bleacher Report’s newest NBA Power Rankings after their ninth-straight win. (See Rankings)

👜 The Goodie Bag

Several lifelike costumes were present at Grand Rapids’ Comic Con that took place at the DeVos Place Convention Center. (See Photos)
A lucky winner purchased a winning $3 million Mega Millions ticket at the Marathon station off W. Centre Avenue in Portage. (More)
Michigan Football’s Semaj Morgan is organizing an effort to give away 2,000 turkeys to Southeast Michigan families in need. (See Video)

Do you plan to leave the state for Thanksgiving? 🦃

Previous Results

Are you a good ice skater? ⛸️

I’m a pro - 25%
I’ll be on my butt - 62.5%
Never tried - 12.5%

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Thank you for reading Monday’s edition of The Mitten! We hope you enjoyed today’s stories. We always welcome any reader feedback by simply responding to this email.

Founder of The Mitten — Joe S.