RCA Photo of the Week - October 31, 2024

Happy Halloween everybody!

To celebrate, I have a special photo that I want to show you all this week.

Taken for the November 5, 1959 issue of The Romeo Observer Press, this picture shows students from North Grade School parading around downtown Romeo in their Halloween costumes. It's fun to see what kids dressed up as at the time. There's Woody the Woodpecker, a pioneer lady, a cat, an owl, and Bugs Bunny (in the background on the right side) all walking by. I also like how the girl dressed up as a pioneer looks genuinely surprised (probably by the camera).

The newspaper had some fun with the caption for the event. It begins with, "No, it wasn't an invasion from Mars that invaded Main Street last Friday afternoon. The invaders were from the North Grade School and they came in every variety of sizes and shapes and costumes."

The article details that the students had a brisk parade that supposedly rivaled the Homecoming one (which was held later that day) in color, imagination, and originality. Afterwards, the kids went back to North Grade School to have their Halloween party since the holiday fell on a Saturday in 1959. The caption adds, "And if all the cider, doughnuts and candy that were consumed were put together in one small child, it could add up to one large tummy-ache!"

Let's hope the children didn't have any stomach aches after the party.

Kids parading around Romeo in their Halloween costumes was a common occurrence at that time. The Romeo Observer contains several photos of children walking around various parts of town in their outfits similar to the one seen here. Even though this is not done anymore, it's nice to see how the schools celebrated Halloween at this time.

There's also one more thing to mention. The building in the background that says "Reading Room" was where Helen Starkweather resided on North Main Street. For those who don't know, she was an art and drafting teacher at the Romeo High School from 1929 to 1970. Helen bequeathed the building to the Village of Romeo and Romeo Historical Society to become Starkweather Arts Center, which still stands today. The Romeo Community Archives has the Helen Starkweather Collection, where it contains art she created over the years and photographs of friends, family, students, and various places in downtown Romeo.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween. Also, stop by the Starkweather Arts Center if you can!

To see more photographs of past Halloweens in Romeo and the Helen Starkweather Collection, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890, or you can access the pictures through our online Archives Catalog.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer Press, November 5, 1959, p. I-1 and II-1; The Romeo Observer, June 17, 1987, p.2-A; and January 1960 Romeo Telephone Directory

RCA Photo of the Week - October 24, 2024

Halloween is right around corner. That means people are likely going to see all of the decorated houses on Tillson Street. However, that street isn't the only one that has featured Halloween-adorned homes. In fact, the photo seen above is one located on Main Street, and there was an article about it in 1994.

The October 26, 1994 issue of The Romeo Observer featured this picture for the article "Spruced up for Halloween: Romeo gets into spirit with ambitious decorations."

Writer Mike Kamyszek discussed how Romeo residents were "doing their part to enhance the annual celebration."

For many people, this meant decorating their front yards with coffins, graveyards, and bats. But, some went the extra mile. These included Stephen Sedgewick of Tillson Street and Philomena Somers of Main Street. The latter is seen in the photo above. Taken by Karen Hamilton, this picture depicts Philomena standing in her front yard and holding a ghost. Other items seen are an eight-foot dracula, a candelabra, a witch, a crypt keeper, and a makeshift graveyard.

Philomena stated that her house is popular on Halloween nights. The decorations are an obvious reason, but there's another one too. Philomena admitted that she always dresses up for Halloween by "being a ghost with the help of white face makeup, a blue veil and blue eyeliner."

Specifically, she said the following, "I sometimes will sit on my porch with my arm around the mummy and frequently the kids don't realize its me. It gives them quite a scare sometimes."

I would be scarred too if I saw that while trick-or-treating.

But why all the theatrics? It's because Philomena directs plays, and she wanted to make her residence the fun home on Halloween. She recalled, "I grew up in upstate New York and there was always one big fun house to go to, and I deiced to give a fun house to other kids."

Above all, Halloween is her favorite holiday.

Go and check out all of the decorated homes this Halloween, whether it's on Tillson, Main, or elsewhere in Romeo!

To see more photographs of past Halloweens in Romeo, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890, or you can access them through our online Archives Catalog.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, October 26, 1994, p.1-A and p.9-A

RCA Photo of the Week - October 17, 2024

Halloween is right around the corner, so there will be plenty of tricks ahead, so I'll give you a treat with this photo.

This was a prank that the Romeo High School (RHS) seniors enacted 50 years ago this year.

This picture was on the front page of the June 13, 1974 issue of The Romeo Observer. According to the accompanying article, graduating senoirs "performed 'an engingeering feat' by placing a Volkswagon shell" on top of the Romeo High School building. This was when the school itself was located on West St. Clair Street.

The article then mentions that the shell was taken down twice by construction workers at the request of school officials. However, at each time, the car was replaced "until a truce was declared and the vehicle was allowed to remain for two days, then removed finally."

For those wondering how these seniors managed to pull a stunt like this, the story doesn't explain.

If you are a member of the RHS Class of 1974 and were involved with this senoir prank, please let me know how you did it. Don't worry, you won't be punished for something you did 50 years ago.

To see more Romeo Observer photographs, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890, or you can access them through our online Archives Catalog.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, June 13, 1974, p.1-A

RCA Photo of the Week - October 10, 2024

October is Family History Month, and I wanted to show you another family that long-time residents might be familiar with.

The June 17, 1954 issue of The Romeo Observer Press displayed this photo of the Edward Battani and Myrna May Troden wedding party right after the couple got married. This is the same one used in last year's Family History Month display at the Romeo District Library Kezar Branch. However, if you look at the newspaper edition itself, you will find this version of the picture.

But why is it cropped? Well, when The Romeo Observer had articles about weddings, they contained a picture of the bride and groom or sometimes, just the former. This makes sense since it's their wedding day, so the focus should be on them.

On the other hand, we're lucky that the archives has the original photo, and we know the people in it. The maid of honor is Colleen Jones, and the best man is Theodore Jacobowski. The other groomsmen are Raymond Battani, Edward's brother who is on the far left, and Dean Quick, who is on the far right. Patricia Conley is the flower girl. The rest of the bridesmaids are Patricia Reid and Kathleen Quinn even though it's not clear which one is which. Despite that, we are grateful to have this picture of a wedding party, which is a family in of itself.

Now, you probably want to know how the wedding went down. Well, I'll tell you.

Edward and Myrna got married in a double ring ceremony at the St. Clement's Catholic Church at an 11am ceremony on Saturday, June 12, 1954. It was performed by Father John McMillan. Along with members of the wedding party, the parents - Mr. and Mrs. Bert Battani, John Troden, and Mrs. D. Amquist - were present.

As mentioned in previous articles, the newspaper loved to talk about the bride's wedding gown. For the ceremony, Myrna wore "a gown of nylon lace over layers of nylon tulle."

Additionally, she wore a fingertip illusion veil fastened with a seed of pearls and matching lace as well as a string of pearls as a necklace. The latter was a gift from her father.

As for the flowers, Myrna's bouquet was a "cascade arrangement of stephanotis with an orchid in the center."

The article also gives time to describe the dresses the bridesmaids and the flower girl had on. Maid of Honor Colleen wore "a waltz length yellow nylon tulle gown with a jacket and matching cap."

Bridesmaids Patricia and Kathleen doned similar outfits in pink and blue. Flower girl Patricia was dressed in "a floor length yellow tulle gown similar to that of the maid of honor."

I quickly did an Ancestry search to see how the couple faired out. They remained married until Edward's death in 2014. In all, they were together for nearly 60 years!

Also, if the name Edward Battani sounds familiar, he was the history and gym teacher at the Romeo High School from 1953 to 1986. He was also a part of the Romeo and Bruce Township Fire Departments.

To see more wedding articles and photographs, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer Press, June 17, 1954, p.I-3, The Romeo Observer, March 12, 2014, p.2-A; and Ancestry

RCA Photo of the Week - October 3, 2024

On Saturday, October 5, the Romeo Community Archives will host an "Ask an Archivist Day" program through Facebook Live. In the past, we have gotten plenty of questions about what responsibilities I have as an archivist, how to research family history, and the kinds of the documents we house at the archives.

A common inquiry is what the oldest item we have in our collections is. Today, I will answer that question with the image above.

This is a letter of recommendation dated May 16, 1839 that reads, “This may certify that we have inspected Miss C.A. Allin and find her qualified to teach a common School. Oel Rix Asahel Baily Inspectors.”

This document can be found in our Romeo Community Schools Collection.

We have no idea who Miss C.A. Allin was outside of the fact that she applied to be teacher. On the other hand, we know plenty about Oel Rix and Asahel Bailey.

Rix was the first Village President of Romeo from 1838 to 1839. According to the 1882 History of Macomb County, Michigan, he came to the village in 1835 and was engaged in the merchantile trade. Rix left Romeo around 1840 when he sold out and became one of the founders of Memphis, Michigan. He later served as a member of the Michigan State Legislature in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

Asahel Bailey needs no introduction since he was one of the first white settlers to come in Romeo in January 1822. One can't deny his importance to the village. He surveyed the first public roads in Macomb County, running to Mount Clemens and St. Clair and later helped plat Romeo in 1832.

Bailey was also one of the first school inspectors in Bruce, and he gave one-half acre of his land to build the first schoolhouse in Romeo. It's approximately the present location of the Romeo Community Schools Administrative Center. Bailey Street is named after him.

This letter of recommendation proves that the need for learning has always been in Romeo's DNA. I've talked more about this in my articles about the University of Michigan branch and Nathan Dickinson. A History of the Romeo Community School District 1824-1976 by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli states that in the late 1830s, the towns of Washington and Romeo were growing, and new schools in the Washington and Bruce Townships were needed. As a result, there was an increasing need for teachers. Let's hope that Miss C.A. Allin got the job.

To learn more about the early educational history of Romeo, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives, 1839, 1882, and 1976