Today, we'll be celebrating another orchard: Graubner's Orchards in Washington Township, which was run by a banker with a special connection to the Romeo District Library.
The Romeo Observer displays this very picture on the front page in its March 25, 1992 edition. In it, Roland Graubner stands in his own orchards by the apple trees. The area saw six inches of snow a few days prior, which delayed the pruning. In the article entitled "Six inches of spring snowfall," which accompanies the photo, Graubner expressed concern about the fluctuating temperatures that plagued orchards like his throughout that winter, especially when warm periods are followed by extremely cold weather. His apple, peach, and pear trees already showed some damage to the buds. Despite that, Graubner claimed that the snow can benefit the tree since it "acts as an insulator...moderating fluctuations in temperature."
Roland Graubner definitely knew what he was talking about since he ran his orchards for over 30 years at that point, and he grew up on a family farm in North Grove, Michigan. Even though he spent most of his adult life working in banks, he always wanted to buy an orchard. His opportunity to do so came when his aunt Florence Bryce died in 1958. She and her husband Gideon, who died in 1933, owned an orchard located on 65885 Van Dyke Road for decades. After her death, Roland moved his family from Detroit to Washington Township and purchased it from the estate. His specific reason for buying that one was this: "The cherries were ripe and the peaches were just beginning to come in. At home in the thumb my grandfather set out an orchard – cherries, and a few grapes. Anyway, I was always a frustrated farmer.”
From 1959 to his retirement in 1969, Graubner worked at his bank job in Detroit during the day. When he came home, he doned his overalls and maintained the orchard, growing apples, peaches, pears, and cherries.
He was also active in the Romeo community. He was the President of the Romeo Rotary Club and a Goodfellow's Chairman. Furthermore, he was one of the original trustees on the Romeo District Library Board when it initially began in 1969.
Graubner made some significant contributions to the library over the 30 years when he was a trustree. In 1970, he helped secure a federal grant for an addition for the Kezar branch by personally raising the money needed for the local share of the project. Moreover, when the library wanted to construct a new Romeo branch, he donated 5.7 acres from the orchard. Voters were initially skeptical about a site for a new library, but after they heard about Graubner's willingness to give land for one, they overwhelmingly approved it as part of a bonding issue in November 1996.
That library eventually became the Romeo District Library, Graubner Branch, named after Roland and the orchard. Even though the Graubner's Orchards is no longer with us, that branch carries reminders of what was on that land like the plaque honoring the Graubner family, the bronze statue of two children trying to grab an apple, and the fruit tree decorations that populate the children's room.
To learn more about the Graubner's Orchards, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.
Source: The Romeo Observer, March 25, 1992, p.1-A and the Graubner Family Collection