RCA Photo of the Week - April 25, 2024

The April 24-30, 2024 issue of The Record displayed some photos of former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich's April 20 visit to the River of God Church in Romeo. Lolich was there to receive the "Hometown Hero" Award and to give a presentation on his 16-year career in Major League Baseball.

For those who don't know, Lolich was a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers between 1963 and 1975. In fact, his actions helped the team to win the 1968 World Series, and he was named Most Valuable Player. Even though he was born in Portland, Oregon, he has spent plenty of time in Washington, Michigan. So much that when the Tigers won the World Series in 1968, Washington turned into Lolich Town.

This leads us to the photo above. The front page of the October 17, 1968 edition of The Romeo Observer displayed this picture of a makeshift sign welcoming Lolich and its declaration. It was erected right after the Tigers' victory. Residents were excited to know that Lolich put Washington on the map. They were so elated that people on Robin Hill road "gleefully turned their street into Lolich Blvd[,] and marked up their mail boxes accordingly."

But that's not all! The article goes on to say the following, "Two state troopers turned up at Mickey's home to handle the expected crowds on Thursday, October 10, the night the conquering heroes came home. There were signs on the expressway, flood lights on his lawn and hundreds of very happy Tiger fans on hand throughout the evening."

Despite the huge win for Washington, it seems that some Detroit newscasters didn't really do their homework. They claimed it was a town west of Detroit. The Observer took note of this and considered sending them a map of Michigan and a compass.

Lolich continued his victory lap on the national scene. He made appearances on the Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson shows. There were even plans for him to do some western and country singing at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.

Regardless if it's 1968 or 2024, Washington will always be Lolich Town.

To discover more about Mickey Lolich, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.

Source: The Record, April 24-30, 2024, p.12; The Romeo Observer, October 17, 1968, p.1-A; Detroit Free Press, October 15, 1968, p.31; and MLB.com

Romeo Community Archives is Hosting Another Scanning Party!

The Romeo Community Archives is hosting another Scanning Party on Saturday, April 27 from 11am to 1:30pm at the Romeo District Library - Kezar Branch!

Do you have historical photos of Romeo, Washington, or Bruce? Street views, homes, businesses, local families, etc.? Help us document and preserve your local history! Please bring no more than 10 historical photographs. They also have to be no bigger than 11 x 14 inches. Staff will scan them while you fill out a form to tell us as much information as you can about the photographs. You will be provided with a flashdrive of your digital images to keep, and the images will also become part of our Romeo Community Archives Digital Collection.

You can contact the archives (586) 690-4890 or at rca@romeocommunityarchives.org if you have any questions.

It's a Beautiful Day in Romeo: The 1933 Peach Queen Coronation

Many of you have probaby seen this photo around town while the Green Space for Prospect Street event was being promoted. But, have you ever wondered what it's showing?

In this special post, I will discuss the event in question and its significance both on the local and national scale.

This picture was taken on Monday, September 4, 1933 during the Peach Queen Coronation at the Michigan Peach Festival. We know that it was that day because that year's program lists the ceremony as being on Monday forenoon between 12:30 to 1:30pm. The photograph displays Lucille Plassey of Rochester walking down the aisle to be crowned Queen of that year's Peach Festival with her Maids of Honor, Marie Callahan and Arlene Reynolds, following behind while the crowd and band watch. Lucille was the subject of a previous post, which can be seen here.

If one looks closely at the background, they can see the old Romeo High School as it stood on Prospect Street in 1933. Its campus was where several Peach Queen Coronations took place from the 1930s to the early 1950s.

This particular ceremony was special because it was broadcast on national radio. Specifically, it was over "the National Broadcasting system through the courtesy of the National Farm and Home Hour."

It was a big deal in the community because the National Farm and Home Hour was produced by the Department of Agriculture. Aimed at listeners in rural America, the variety show covered livestock expositions, music and news, tips for farmers, advice from agencies and government officals, harvest festvials, and "the most spectacular happenings in agricultural America."

The Michigan Peach Festival definitely fit the bill for the program since it was (and still is) a wonderful harvest celebration.

The National Broadcasting Company aired the coronation through the now defunct Blue Network. Blue Network's logo can be seen on the microphone in the picture below.

Donald Chubb (Executive Committe Member), Marie Callahan of Flint (1st Maid), Lucille Plassey (Peach Queen), Arlene Reynolds of Romeo (2nd Maid), and U.S. Representative Jesse P. Wolcott

Everett Mitchell hosted the National Farm and Home Hour at that time. He opened each broadcast with the catchphrase, "It's a beautiful day in Chicago."

Even though we don't know if Mitchell tweaked his signature line for the Peach Festival, there are some things that we do know what occurred in the broadcast. For starters, a newspaper at the time reported, "Rep. Jesse P. Wolcott, of Port Huron, placed the crown on the queen's head and gave the principal address, in which he paid tribute to Michigan's argiculture and industries."

We also know that Edward A. Jacobs, who organized the Michigan Peach Festival in the first place and was the General Chairman of the Executive Committee, gave a speech at that same ceremony. The transcript is currently housed in the Romeo Community Archives's Romeo Peach Festival Collection. It's a long one, so here are some snippets like, "The town itself is a beauty spot with its beautiful well kept old homes, its quaint cleanliness and its beautiful shade trees. It is such that it has taken the name of 'Romeo the Beautiful,' or the 'Best Town on Earth'" and "Friends, in my humble way I have tried to tell you something of our town, our Festival and the spirit back of it. Nevertheless, Friends, our Festival will mean nothing unless we can make you feel that as our peach crop will again be a succesful one next year, although a failure this year. That the economic structure of our country will again right itself and all of us again will experience a wave of prosperity and happiness."

It's no wonder why the now green space on Prospect Street was utilized for this special occassion.

To learn more about this Peach Queen Coronation and the Peach Festival in general, you can locate the Romeo Peach Festival Collection here and/or contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org to see said collection in person.

Sources: Wikipedia and Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1933

RCA Photo of the Week - April 11, 2024

Washington Township's 197th Anniversary event is tomorrow, April 12, so let's take a look at an example of how the town has celebrated its history.

In the June 10, 1992 edition of The Romeo Observer, Karen Hamilton took this photo of two women in historical costumes standing on the porch of the Loren Andrus Octagon House. But why? Well, I'll tell you. The first Sunday in June is Super Sunday in Washington Township. Every year, people come to the Washington Historical Museum for a variety of activities. These include checking out the Craft Show and Country Market, which featured over 100 exhibitors that year. In addition, the Washington Lions Club held their annual Classic Car and Truck show and cooked chicken for the Bar-B-Q for visitors that day. Clowns, concerts, members of the 6th Michigan Calvary renacting Civil-War era maneuvers were present as well.

These women, who have not been identified, were also at Super Sunday. As hostesses, they guided visitors around the Octagon House. Since that building is undoubtly one of Washington Township's most prized possessions, it's no wonder that the Greater Washington Area Historical Society made it an important part of that Super Sunday. They wanted to celebreate their history, and what better way to do than have the members of the Friends of the Octagon House give tours of a home built by 1860.

I hope everyone had a good time at that Super Sunday. This year's event will take place on Sunday, June 2.

Happy 197th Birthday, Washington Township!

To discover more about the history of Washington Township, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org and/or check out the Washington Historical Museum. The latter is open 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month from June through November.

Source: The Romeo Observer, June 10, 1992, p.1-B

Photo of the Week - April 4, 2024

Saturday, April 6 will mark the 35th Anniversary of the Grand Trunk Railroad derailment in Washington Township. Let's take a deep dive into this unfortunate incident.

According to the April 12, 1989 issue of The Romeo Observer, 15 cars, which were part of a 26-car Grand Trunk Railroad train heading south to Rochester, "left the track just south of 30 Mile Road east of Van Dyke."

Today, that is the intersection at the Macomb Orchard Trail and 30 Mile Road.

Tim Weir - spokesman for Grand Trunk - mentioned that a mechanical problem caused the derailment. Specifically, a wheel assembly (also known as a truck) under the 12th car failed, which cause that one and the 14 other cars to leave the track. Many of the cars were open cars carrying gravel, and some were damaged beyond repair.

The photo seen above was taken by Douglas Card, and it shows the aftermath of the train wreck.

Three trainees and a certified engineer, who was taking a refresher course, were on board at the time of the incident, yet there were no injuries. The Grand Trunk trains were traveling these tracks as part of a training program.

The good news was that the rest of the train continued on to Rochester with no problems that we know of. In addition, a few days later, a firm from Ohio "rerailed the cars that were able to be salvaged."

Even though no one was hurt, let's hope that something like this will never happen again.

To see more photographs and articles from The Romeo Observer and other newspapers, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. You can also check out our online Archives Catalog at this link.

Source: The Romeo Observer, April 12, 1989, p.1-A

"The Romeo Observer" Digitization Project Update #2!

Hello Everybody!

We got good news! Every issue of The Romeo Observer up until 1949 has been digitized and made searchable! So, if you wanted to know what Romeo did during World War II, how it reacted to the polio vaccine, and who were the Peach Queens, you can view them at the archives!

Also, starting in 1940 and lasting until 1964, the newspaper was called The Romeo Observer Press. This was so because in October 1939, Charles Marentette - owner of the Observer - sold the paper to Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Hathway, who ran The Romeo Press. The former got started in 1937. Both names were combined to form a new paper called The Romeo Observer Press. It's still the same Romeo Observer that everybody knew and loved.

I will make another update when the 1950s editions are all done.

You can make an appointment to see these issues by calling (586) 690-4890 or emailing rca@romeodistrictlibrary

To learn more about The Romeo Observer Digitization Project, you can check out our previous updates about it by clicking on these two links.

Source: The Romeo Observer Press, August 31, 1945, p.1