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 Jessica Foltz - a Peach Queen who has played a major role in the Peach Festival not once, but three times.
In 2005, the 19-year-old from Washington was crowned with the Peach Queen title for that year, but her journey to the Queendom didn't begin there. While growing up, her family made sure to attend the Peach Festival every year, even for all five days. When she was little, her grandfather, former village official and volunteer firefighter John Foltz, would say to her each year that she was so beautiful she should be the Peach Queen and "That's going to be you."
Along with encouragement from other family members, Jessica decided competed in the Peach Queen pagaent in 2004. She was the runner-up to that year's winner Fallon Bojanowski. After fulfilling her duties with Fallon, Jessica wanted to go back and do it again. She explained later, "I enjoyed myself so much last year with it and I thought, if I had such a great time, then I can't imagine what it would be like to do it again and maybe win."
And, that's what she did in 2005 and won the Peach Queen crown. How did she come on top? The answer was in the August 31, 2005 issue The Romeo Observer. In it, staff writer Shaun Byron cited a quote from Peach Queen chaperone Sue Hatton-Vagi, who said that the judges were impressed with Jessica's ambition and maturity. At the time, Jessica was studying broadcast journalism at Oakland University, and she dreamt of being in front of the camera after she traveled to New York and saw a taping of The Today Show in 2003. Afterwards, she became an admirer of Katie Couric. In addition to those dreams, Jessica had a winning smile and intelligence that placed her as the front runner in the pagaent.
Sue also pointed out that Jessica is "the type of queen who knows what she wants and goes for it."
She added, "She is very outgoing and has an outstanding personality...She glows when she walks into the room."
Furthermore, Jessica volunteered for various charities like Relay for Life and National Night Out for children with the Macomb County Sheriff's Department. She was also a peer mentor at the Romeo High School and mentored her 7-year-old cousin, who lost her mother.
Considering the judges' focus on how each girl could be a good role model for the community, Jessica certainly fit the bill and deserved to be a Peach Queen. Her duties were similar to that previous Peach Queens. She promoted the Peach Festival by attending various parades in Macomb County and even the Rotary International Day Parade in Port Huron.
One would think that her Peach Queen story would end after her reign was over, but it didn't. In 2013, Jessica assumed the role of chaperone to the Peach Queen, which meant she had to accompany the winner and the court to the various places and parades on time. Given her past experience as Peach Queen, it makes sense since she would know the inner workings of what the queen had to do. As of now, Jessica has been doing that for over 10 years.
Now, one might think that Jessica's story ends there, but nope! In 2019, her 4-year-old son Blake Goike became Mr. Peachy King. He was also a two-time Peach Festival Baby Photo contest champion.
The Peach Festival has always been a part of Jessica's life and will continue to be so, for it allows her to be the best role model she could ever be in the Romeo community.
To learn more about Jessica Foltz, 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, 2005, 2013, and 2019