Velvelettes and Kalamazoo news required

[bobkayli]

This is a call for help.
I will be in Michigan over from England in the next few weeks.
My wife is planning to spend some time at the Quilting Show in Grand Rapids leaving me some free time.
Looking at the map, Kalamazoo seems close. For a Motown fan like me this conjures up the Velvelettes. Is there anything Velvelettes related that would be interesting to see in the area?
My other option is ploughing through vinyl records looking for good 45s so also any hints on good record shops in the area would be appreciated.
Thanks for any help you can give!

[RossHolloway]

I actually grew up in Kalamazoo and its about 45 minutes south of Grand Rapids. I can't think of anything of interest there concerning the V's. My mother did go to high school with Betty Kelly, she was a couple of years behind my mother in school. As far as used record shops, I use to know them all, but since leaving the area I haven't gone back to any in about 15-20 years. The Motown Museum in Detroit is about 2.5-3 hours away and definitely worth the trip.

[woodward]

[QUOTE=bobkayli;245121]This is a call for help.
I will be in Michigan over from England in the next few weeks.
My wife is planning to spend some time at the Quilting Show in Grand Rapids leaving me some free time.
Looking at the map, Kalamazoo seems close. For a Motown fan like me this conjures up the Velvelettes. Is there anything Velvelettes related that would be interesting to see in the area?

Back in 2009, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 North Rose Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49003 had a first floor gallery at their museum Meet the Velvelettes, Kalamazoo's Legendary Girl Group. Their email address is kalamazoomuseum.org. The exhibit ran from 2/14 to 9/27. I would assume that they might have some remnants remaining from this exhibit in the museum. You should contact them to see what they have on display as the exhibit is no longer on their agenda.

[bobkayli]

Thanks for the help. I checked with the museum but they have no archive of the visit.
Detroit is part of the stopover so I will spend some time there.
Probably my Kalamazoo visit will become a trawl through vinyl as there is nothing else Motown linked I can find there. There seem to be several stores in the area.
Thanks for the suggestions.

[longtimefan]

Hopefully, theboyfromcrosstown will see your post! :-)

[smark21]

I grew up in Kalamazoo in the 70s and 80s...never even heard of the Velvelettes until I started getting into Motown and classic girl group music around 1990. Unless you have friends, family or business there, there's really not much point visiting but if you go, the Nature Center is a nice place to go for a long walk and learn something about ecology.

About the only really famous person to come from Kalamazoo is Derek Jeter, the star shortstop and now living legend of the New York Yankees.

[theboyfromxtown]

http://www.greenlightmusickalamazoo.com/