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