The Romeo Peach Festival is about a month 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. The 2018 Peach Queen Samantha Bartolotta wore said sticker after we interviewed her last September. We hold interviews all-year round to accommodate people's schedules, which is what happened here.
All interviews will be apart of the digital Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection. Each will contain the audio and transcript. We recently added Samantha's interview to said digital collection. In our conversation, she shared why she wanted to become Peach Queen, the highlights of her reign, and how it influenced her life.
Ever since she was a child, Samantha always looked up to the Peach Queen as a role model. It was a goal and dream of hers to hold the title, so she could know the people in the Romeo community more and inspire them as well. When she became old enough, she participated in the Peach Queen Pageant in 2017. However, she didn't win it, so she decided to run again in 2018. That time, she was successful.
On receiving the Peach Queen title, Samantha mentioned that she was very excited just like any other Peach Queen would be. In addition, she felt grateful and honored that she "had the opportunity to represent our town for the year, and that [she] could inspire younger children just like [she] had been inspired by them in the years past."
Her highlights as Peach Queen were becoming friends with Runner-Up Michelle Pantalena, going to the Lions Bear Lake Camp, and raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. On her relationship with Michelle, Samantha recalled that she was fortunate to have such an amazing partner during that year. We published our interview with Michelle in June, so you can check it out at this link: https://romeocommunityarchives.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-romeo-peach-festival-oral-history.html
Every year, the Peach Queens and their court make a stop at the Lions Bear Lake Camp with Romeo Lions Club members. This camp is for impaired children. Upon attending, she felt that it was inspring to see "how much they could do with some of their disabilities and how it didn't hinder them at all."
Samantha named the Make-A-Wish Foundation as her charity of choice. When she was little, she had a younger friend who had some illnesses. They went through some treatments and participated the Make-A-Wish program. Because of this, it was near and dear to Samantha's heart, and she wanted to give back and help out those children in need.
When asked how being Peach Queen influenced her life, Samantha replied that it brought a lot more confidence into her life and propelled her to really chase after her dreams, including getting know more of the community. It also encouraged her to put her best foot forward and to inspire others. She has coached a younger figure skating team for about five years at that point, so being Peach Queen motivated her to be a good role model and bring positivity into their life.
Since her time as Peach Queen, Samantha graduated from Oakland University with a bachelor's degree in marketing. She currently works globally in a marketing and events specialist role. When we spoke to her in September 2025, she was working abroad in Austria in what would become a 14-month stay, but she happened to be in town during the time of the Peach Festival, so we were able to talk then. Regarding of her time in that country, she said that working there had been super cool, and she loved getting to know new people and seeing different walks of life. She noted that she was kind of surprised that Austrians were very similar to how Americans are. Samantha adored the fresh produce, walking to a farmer's market on the weekend, being close to everything, and getting immersed in their culture. She returned to the States earlier this year.
She also continues to coach the figure skating team she mentioned earlier. She used to skate, but once she aged out of competing with them, she wanted to continue guiding and still be with the children. Additionally, she has chaperoned some Peach Queens for various events.
Before we ended our interview, I asked Samantha about her advice for anybody looking to compete in future Peach Queen pagaents. She answered it with the following, "Absolutely, I think for anyone looking to compete in future Peach Queen Pageants, it's important to just be yourself. Just show up as who you are, your quirky, bubbly, thoughtful, caring self, and I think that'll go a long way. It's hard to fake that, so I think, yeah, as long as you can be yourself and really show the judges and have that confidence, even if it's confidence that'll grow throughout the year and everything with that, but just as long as they can see that you're being your true authentic self."
This is such wonderful advice!
Samantha and I had a great time talking about the Romeo Peach Festival and her experiences as 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 2018 Peach Queen Samantha Bartolotta 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 and LinkedIn.com