Archivist Emily Malek from the Romeo Community Archives will be at the Romeo Peach Festival this year!
What for? She will record people's memories and experiences with the annual Peach Festival. These recordings will be posted on this blog for long-term preservation.
So, if you have fond memories coming to the historic Peach Festival, tell Emily about it.
For more information, check out the flyer below!
We are now one week away from the annual Romeo Peach Festival, so let's continue celebrating the Peach Queens of the past!
Today, we'll talk about Karen Hoff - a 1950s Peach Queen with one of the most interesting backstories ever.
In 1954, the 18-year-old from Pontiac was crowned with that title. This is a case, where we somewhat know what made the judges pick Karen as the Peach Queen. The first is the judges themselves. According to the August 12, 1954 issue of The Romeo Observer, the people who evaluated the Peach Queen contest were Toby David of radio station CKLW; John S. Coppin, a well-known Michigan portrait painter and artist at the time; Warren Simpson, Scarab Club member and water color painter; and Karl Larsen, a free lance illustrator and cartoonist. They judged the contestants on poise, personality, and beauty.
The second is that in the same edition, the article, entitled "Pontiac Girl Wins Peach Queen Title," called Karen "the charming entrant."
The third is that Karen was active in many school functions. She was the assistant editor of the Pontiac High School newspaper; secretary of the Student Council; a member of the Quill and Scroll, an honorary journalism society, and the Student Union. In addition, her favorite sports were swimming and tennis, and she had plans to go to college and major in business administration.
Finally, Karen's backstory was colored by World War II. While it's not clear if this was brought up in the competition, Lee Winborn wrote an entire story about it in the August 26 Romeo Observer issue titled "Overtones Of War Color A Queen's Story." When Karen was three years old, she traveled to Bergen, Norway with her mother and sister Catherine since her parents were born in that country. What was supposed to be a short trip turned into seven years. The Nazis ranscaked "villages and towns on their march through Western Europe, and Norway did not escape the onslaught of the enemy forces."
The Hoffs couldn't leave Norway, so they remained in that country until after V-E Day. They were able to return to the United States and reunite with their father in December 1945 when Karen was 10 years old. Karen and Catherine detailed more of that story by publishing their parents' letters in the book Six Years to Sunrise.
Winborn also reported that when Karen entered the public school in Pontiac, she couldn't speak a word of English, yet she was able to pick up the language quickly from her classmates.
Additionally, Karen had never entered a beauty contest before until "her sister submitted her name to the Miss Pontiac competition." Karen won the Miss Pontiac title and was able to compete in the Peach Queen pagaent, where she took the crown there too.
Given all of these parts, it's easy to see why Karen won. She exudes beauty and charm, especially in the photo seen above. There is no doubt she impressed the judges with her looks, personality, and backstory during the pagaent and the interview right before the final decision.
Like the other Peach Queens before her, Karen carried out her duties to represent local peach harvests and to bring attention to orchards and the Peach Festival. That same edition listed her schedule with making appearances on radio like on the Toby David show on the aformentioed CKLW; on television like on The Auntie Dee Show; at sport events; at the Sigma Gamma Hospital in Harrison Township; and the traditional trip to Washington D.C., where she explored the Arlington National Cemetery and the White House as well as presented peach pies to White House secretariet Homer Gruenther.
At the end of her article about Karen, Winborn wrote the following, "Little did the young Karen dream when she was far from the shores of her native land that someday she would return and reign as a queen - even if only for a few days - in a village which will carry the memory of her charm and vitality for many years after the final curtain has descended upon Romeo's 22nd Peach Festival."
To learn more about Karen Hoff, other Peach Queens, 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.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1954
We are now two weeks away from the annual Romeo Peach Festival, so let's continue celebrating the Peach Queens of the past!
Today, we'll talk about Pamela Cumming - a Peach Queen who achieved a rare feat in Romeo Peach Queen history in the 1960s.
In 1964, the Romeoite was crowned with the Peach Queen and Miss Romeo titles. This made her the third queen to have attained this, but how?
While it's common these days for the Peach Queen to be from the Romeo-Washington-Bruce area, it was rarer in the past because of the guidelines for the pageant. In a letter from 1939, the Peach Festival Association described the Peach Queen Pageant as "...in previous years, a reigning queen, maids of honor, and a queens court, will be selected from candidates representing five counties--Lapeer, Genessee, St. Clair, Oakland, and Macomb."
In 1964, there were 12 contestants representing Pontiac, Algonac, Flint, Waterford Township, Metropolitan Beach, Rochester, Utica, Romeo, Oxford, Ortonville, Lapeer, and Armada. This included Pamela, Barbara Walter (Miss Armada), Nancy Gay Shadrick (Miss Waterford Township), and Donna Lee Shepherd (Miss Flint). Because Pamela had won the Miss Romeo title earlier that summer, she was able to compete in the Peach Queen Pageant.
The August 13, 1964 issue of The Romeo Observer described that year's competition rules. The women would make two appearances - one in street attire and the other in formal dresses. They would also be interviewed by a panel of judges, which included Mrs. Laurena Pringle of the Detroit Free Press, Howard Heldenbrand of the Pontiac Press, Maurice Vincent of the Mount Clemens Monitor-Leader, and Mrs. Maston Forkum of the John Robert Powers Finishing School in Detroit. They scored the contestants on poise, personality, and appearance as well as beauty.
Pamela was selected as the Peach Queen for that year, and it's not hard to see why. She's very beautiful as seen in the photo above with her second Maid of Honor Barbara (left) and first Maid of Honor Nancy (right). In addition, she worked for Dr. John Nott - a dentist in Romeo, and she had plans to join the Women's Air Force and take dental technician training.
This made her the third queen to have obtained both the Miss Romeo and Peach Queen titles. The two previous queens who attained this were Lois Beal in 1937 and Nancy Barber in 1939. Pamela would be the last one to achieve this feat because the Miss Romeo title would be discontinued after 1973 due to high costs and lack of interest.
Ironically, Pamela almost didn't win the title. The August 27, 1964 Romeo Observer edition discussed a "slight mixup" in the judges' decision. The contestants weren't known by their names, but by numbers. When the judges made their decision, a number was hastily written down. What was it? It was a number 1, which belonged to Donna - the aformentioend Miss Flint. The error wasn't discovered until Donna was crowned, given flowers, and being photographed. It turned out that the judges meant to write down the number 11, which was associated with, you guest it, Pamela!
Pamela was able to receive the crown and carry out her duties to represent local peach harvests and to bring attention to orchards and the Peach Festival. This included making appearances on radio, television, sport events, and the traditional trip to Washington D.C.
Interestingly enough, the next Peach Queen from Romeo wouldn't come until 1982 when Laura Amon took the crown.
Congratulations, Pamela!
To learn more about Pamela Cumming, other Peach Queens, 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.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1964
We are now three weeks away from the annual Romeo Peach Festival, so let's continue celebrating the Peach Queens of the past!
Today, we'll talk about Pamela Perfili - one of the 1970s Peach Queens and who was present in an important time in American history. In 1974, the 21-year-old from Roseville was crowned with that title. The July 18, 1974 issue of The Romeo Observer noted many things about her. These included having an associate degree from Macomb College (now Macomb Community College); a bachelor's degree in psychology from Oakland University (OU); her work as a model and manager of Rio Enterprises, Inc.,; how she's studying for her master's degree from OU in business management; her GPA, her looks (green eyes and brown hair); her height (five feet, five inches tall); and her waist measurements.
In addition, at the time of 1974 Peach Queen contest, Pamela held multiple titles. They were Miss Roseville, Miss Macomb Mall, Miss Rose Festival, and Miss Columbus Day. Most impressive was that she was among the top ten for the Miss Michigan contest in 1973.
For those wondering what she did during the talent portion, Pamela performed with the accordian, an instrument that she had played for six years at that point.
In other words, judges were so impressed with Pamela's beauty, educational background, pagentry credentials, and talent that they gave her the Peach Queen title.
Like the other Peach Queens before her, Pamela carried out her duties to represent local peach harvests and to bring attention to orchards and the Peach Festival. The August 22, 1974 Romeo Observer edition listed her schedule, which included visiting a Detroit Wheels football match, a Tigers game, and the Hazel Park race track. Most importantly, she went to the Washington D.C. to deliver a basketful of peaches to the newly appointed president Gerald R. Ford.
1974 was no doubt a significant year in American history, for that was when previous president Richard Nixon resigned from office, making him the only Commander in Chief to do so. In fact, August 8th marks the 50th anniversary of that announcement. Ford - Nixon's Vice President - was immediately swore in as the 38th U.S. President.
This means that Ford receiving the peaches from the Peach Queen would have been one of his first acts as Commander in Chief. Additionally, he is the first (and only) person from Michigan to have been president. Michigan newspapers like The Romeo Observer and The Macomb Daily published this photo with President Ford, Pamela, and Macomb congressman James O' Hara to celebrate the peach exchange.
Moreover, the Romeo Peach Festival Collection contains documents related to Pamela's visit to Washington D.C. These include a letter written by Congressman O'Hara to Kathy Richardson, the Peach Queen chaperone in 1974; Kathy's visitor pass to the U.S. Representative and Senate chambers; a memorandum of President Ford's meeting with Romanian Presidential Counselor Vasile Pungan; and a note written to Kathy by Ford himself.
What a way to bring attention to the orchards in the Romeo area!
To learn more about Pamela Perfili, other Peach Queens, 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.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1974
The Romeo Peach Festival is four weeks away. You know what that means. For this month, we will once again cover one past Peach Queen each week until August 29, when the festivities began.
Let's start with Ruth Sheardy - one of the earliest Peach Queens. In 1934, the 19-year-old from Lake Orion was crowned with that title. This is a case where we don't know what made the judges select Ruth. The only two things that we can go off on are descriptions of her looks and the judges themselves. The August 22, 1934 issue of The Romeo Observer recounted that she was slender, blonde, five feet and five inches tall; wore "a black formal dress and black shoes, set off with a white bracelet, ring and necklace;" and had blue eyes.
Moreover, the names of the judges were listed in that same edition. They were H.W. McCullough, a Detroit jewelry designer; Lee Redman, a well-known portrait photographer; and John S. Coppin, an artist and caricaturist. It's safe to conlucde that Ruth's looks and how she dressed herself in the competition were enough for her to win the Peach Queen title.
Like in the years prior, Ruth carried out her duties by representing local peach harvests as well as bringing attention to the orchards and the Peach Festival no matter how big or small the audience was. She and her maids of honor gave peaches to children at the Detroit Receiving Hospital, and she even traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also, her coronation was aired on radio over the National Broadcasting system through the courtesy of the National Farm and Home Hour.
1934 was one of the most significant years for the Peach Festival because of what happened prior. On the afternoon of Thursday, August 2, a "tornado" wreaked havoc on the village. There was rain, hail, and a 100-mile gale. No person was killed, but there was plenty of property damage caused by the storm. These included destroyed crops, uprooted trees, smashed windows of store fronts along Main Street, demolished barns, and unroofed churches. The most significant of this damage belonged to the First Methodist Church (today, it's known as the Romeo United Methodist Church). The south side of the edifice's roof was removed, and its 165-foot steeple was moved. As a result, hundreds of bricks were loosened in the foundation. A photograph was taken of the steeple after the storm occurred. It can be seen below.
For safety reasons, the spire was removed, thus altering the look of the First Methodist Church ever since.
Romeo wasn't the only place in which that storm came through. Northern Oakland County and much of Macomb County also experienced damage. This included Washington Township; Mount Clemens; Davis; Rochester Hills; and Lake Orion - Ruth Sheardy's hometown.
The people in Romeo went without electricity and telephone lines for days. It didn't help that this was also during the Great Depression, so things were likely tough for them already.
Luckily, the Peach Festival was weeks away. Ruth was declared Peach Queen just two weeks after the event, and people were certainly excited for the festivities despite the hardships. To compensate, the festival's organizing committee circulated wooden "nickels" good in any local stores free of charge during the event days. This got the attention of the Chase National Bank, who wanted to acquire some of those nickels as part of their collection of moneys of the world. The Romeo Community Archives houses the letters the bank sent regarding the wooden money in the Romeo Peach Festival Collection.
There's a reason why the Romeo "tornado" of 1934 still gets talked about 90 years later. It demonstrated the Romeo Peach Festival's communal and courageous spirit like no other. In addition, it managed to get the town more national attention. Despite all the tragedy, people still looked out for each other and wanted to have fun.
To learn more about the 1934 storm, you can come to the "The Romeo Tornado of 1934" presentation at the Romeo District Library Kezar Branch on Thursday, August 8 at 6pm. It will be hosted by Emily Malek - our archivist - and Larry Sobczak - editor of The Record.
In the meantime, you can learn more about Ruth Sheardy, other Peach Queens, and the Romeo Peach Festival in general by locating the Romeo Peach Festival Collection here and/or contacting the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org to see said collection in person.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1934