"Beautiful Day. Great to be Alive." If you were old enough in the 1990's and were anywhere near a radio signal that originated in the Kalamazoo area, those words bring back memories and a smile. The words were spoken by Scott Jett.
If we did a Mount Rushmore for Kalamazoo, whose faces would you put on it? That’s where this gets to be fun. The narrowing down process would probably start a good bar or classroom argument or two.
Maybe some of the old-timers who grew up here know the stories, but a few days ago, I just found out the surrounding area just west of Kalamazoo was once the mint capital of the world. And it was right up until the early 1970's, when blight disease killed it.
With over 29,000 members, Facebook page "Vanished Kalamazoo" is a testament to the appetite Kalamazooans, former and present, have in the city's past. Now, the city of Kalamazoo is embarking on a "City-Wide Historic Resources Inventory."