The Romeo Peach Festival is six months away, and the Romeo Community Archives will be there this year to conduct oral histories about the cherished event.
Each participant will be given a sticker for sharing their memories of the festival. Current Peach Queen Olivia Lynn wore said sticker after we interviewed her at last year's Peach Festival.
All interviews will be apart of the digital Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection. Each will contain the audio and transcript. We recently added Queen Olivia's interview to said digital collection.
While we were conducting oral history interviews at the Romeo Community Center last year, the current Peach Queen and her entourage unexpectedly showed up. She was more than willing to share her story of her experiences with the Peach Festival, why she wanted to become Peach Queen, and how it has influenced her life.
Queen Olivia mentioned that while growing up in Washington Township, she and her family would go to the Peach Festival Floral parade. She specifically recalled looking at the Peach Queen on the float and thinking, "She looks like a princess."
Olivia loved what the Peach Queen believed in and how beautiful she was on the outside and inside. Her family also encouraged her to try out by saying that one day, she'll be Peach Queen. Olivia applied when she found out that the pagaent was hosting last year.
She was beyond excited when she won the Peach Queen crown.
When we were talking, Queen Olivia said that her favorite part while carrying out her duties were the kids. At that point, she had gone to various community events like KIDSFEST at the Romeo Village Park and camps for blind and other disabled children. She enjoyed hanging out, playing, and getting pictures with them. While at KIDSFEST, Olivia loved how the kids would shout, "Mommy, it's a princess!"
When asked about how being a Peach Queen influenced her life, Olivia said that it made her more sociable and outgoing. Talking to people about her life took her out of her comfort zone. This made her work on her communications skills because she's being "twenty-questioned every single day."
Since the modern Peach Queen's focus is to make a difference in the area, Queen Olivia's plans for the rest of her reign are to establish two fundraisers. One of them is for a scholarship called the Peach Grant for a Romeo High School senior who's doing good in the community and showing kindness to others. She wanted to spread light onto someone who's making a difference and to give a message for others to encourage them to do the same.
The other is supporting the Common Grounds Fund - a 24/7 mental health crisis center. For that one, she wanted to let people know that they are loved, supported, and valued. In addition, she wanted to champion something that people could turn to in a time of crisis.
Before we ended our interview, I asked Queen Olivia about her advice for anybody looking to compete in future Peach Queen pagaents. She answered it with the following: "I would say go for it and give it your best. Stay true to yourself, stay true to your values, and never change for anyone. If you have a desire to do anything, go for it and don't let anyone stop you."
Perfect advice!
Along with the photo seen above, intern Jo and I took some other pictures with Queen Olivia, which are below.
Queen Olivia and I had a great time talking about the Romeo Peach Festival and her experiences as the Peach Queen. The Romeo Community Archives looks forward to talking to more people about their memories of the Peach Festival and what it means to them at this year's festivities.
It doesn't matter if you're young or old. We want to hear all of the stories about the festival.
To check out the 2025 Peach Queen Olivia Lynn interview, you can go to the Romeo Community Archives online catalog. More will be uploaded in the near future.
If you're a former Peach Queen, member of the Peach Queen court, or a festival attendee and want to participate in the Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. We can also conduct interivews outside of Romeo Peach Festival weekend if you feel more comfortable that way.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection, 2025