These photographs don’t belong to me, and they aren’t even of my family. But a fellow genealogist, The Psychogenealogist, began posting photos on Twitter, and I noticed the setting of the Kalamazoo Country Club. These photos were taken in 1968 and belonged to his grandfather, Michael John Hanley Jr. (1924-2015), who felt that KCC was a home away from home. Many family events were held there.
Michael moved to Kalamazoo from Flint in the late 60s, perhaps 1968, and was a GM plant manager through the early 80s. His two youngest children finished out high school in Kalamazoo. He maintained a residence in Kalamazoo until his death, but wintered in Florida after retirement. His first wife was Betty Grace Sears, who died in 1981, and at some point after that, he married Mary Jo Hipskind Johnson (1926-2011). Mary Jo graduated from St. Augustine High School in 1944.
If you’re from Kalamazoo, take a look and see if you recognize anyone in the pix–or what they were doing dressed up this way with klompen on their feet!
Give me a holler if you recognize individuals or the event!
The Family Kalamazoo 
I hope you find out why there were dressed like that!
Me too. I’m so curious!
Isn’t Michigan pretty much Holland-away-from-Holland? This is obviously (to me, anyway) some sort of “Old Home” celebration. Once a year, in mid-October, all of us who even the least bit German haul out our dirndls and lederhosen and sing, “Du,du, liegst mir im herzen”. I’d think Dutch folks would do the same. Of course, playing golf with klompen is another matter!
LOL!!! Holland-away-from-Holland. Yes, of course it is! I can’t imagine playing golf in klompen! They don’t have spikes, for one thing!
I would see if anyone from the Vanished Kalamazoo group on Facebook would know
Yes, I posted it on there :)! I would really think so! But somebody just said he was a caddy there at that time and doesn’t remember this event :(.
John Pelikan? In leprechaun hat
Thanks, Jerry! I assume you mean this John Pelikan? http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/kalamazoo/obituary.aspx?pid=167855065
Thanks again for posting these. My grandfather would have gotten a kick out of his dusty old photos being on a blog.
Steve, it looks like Jerry above has possibly identified one of the men.
Love the wooden shoes!
Me too! But not to wear.
Fab pictures. I did a double-take at the lady in the orange dress. She’s the image of one of my aunts. Rationally, I know it’s not her, but wow, doppelganger.
Wow! Isn’t that strange how it works seeing doppelgangers! I was struck by her dress and her hat, too. Very memorable and very of-the-time-period.
🙂