We are now three weeks away from the annual Romeo Peach Festival, so let's continue celebrating the Peach Queens of the past!
Today, we'll talk about Doris Sternberg - the first woman to be crowned Peach Queen after World War II.
In 1946, the 19-year-old from Oxford was crowned with that title. This is a case, where we know what made the judges pick Doris as the Peach Queen. The first is the judges themselves. According to the August 22, 1946 issue of The Romeo Observer Press, the people who evaluated the Peach Queen contest were Donald F. Schram, Detroit Free Press State Editor; Rex White of The Detroit News; and Ray Marty, an art instructor.
They judged the contestants on poise, personality, and beauty. It's clear that Doris had all three. When The Romeo Observer Press revealed her as the next Peach Queen, she was described as "a pretty blonde weighing 120 pounds and five feet, three and a half inches tall."
In addition, the judges admitted that a little poise and personality won them over with Doris. Looks can only get a girl so far in the Peach Queen Pageant, and she had the it factor.
They also must have admired Doris's background. She was a graduate of Oxford High School and was a drum majorette for six years in the high school band. At the time she received the title, Doris was attending the University of Michigan, majoring in journalism. Before entering the university, she worked for the Ann Arbor Daily News. When interviewed about her experiences as Peach Queen in 1976, she mentioned that her ambition during that time was getting a degree in journalism.
Furthermore, The Romeo Observer Press pointed out that right before the Peach Queen Pageant, Doris was Miss Oakland County. Her sister Mrs. Marilyn Sternberg Odmark held that same title in 1940, and she was living in Detroit in 1946. Although it's unclear if this mattered in the competition, Doris must have learned a thing or two from her older sister. Given all the reasons, we have a clear picture of why Doris took the Peach Queen crown.
Doris secured the title at a significant time. 1946 was the first year the Peach Festival was held since 1942, and she was the first Peach Queen since 1941. Romeo cancelled the festivities during World War II, so it could focus on the soldiers fighting overseas. There was doubt if the town had the financial capacity to fund the festival at the same level as previous years. Fred Hicks - president of the Peach Festival Association at that time - assured that they will continue the event to boost high morale. He cited how England "found this form of recreation a very vital actor in civilian morale" after the war ended.
Doris certainly did her part to boost Romeo's morale. She carried out her duties to represent local peach harvests and to bring attention to orchards and the Peach Festival. Doris and her court attended a Detroit Tigers-St. Louis Browns game at Briggs Stadium; presented peaches to Tigers manager Steve O'Neill, players on both teams, and radio announcer Harry Heilmann; visited Detroit Mayor Edward Jeffries; and entertained and disturbed bushels of peaches (donated by the Romeo Orchards Company) to wounded veterans at the Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek. They also appeared at the Lapeer Homecoming, Armada Fair, and Fireman's Field Day in Detroit.
She even traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Harry S. Truman even though it's not known if they actually interacted. This trip was almost eliminated from the schedule. According to Hicks, there was concern about how the Peach Queen "couldn't get inside of two miles of the White House. They have other things on their mind down there."
Moreover, Doris traveled to Chicago for a radio broadcast on a national hookup. She remembered that she and her chaperone Mrs. George Heenan were there for Don McNeil's Breakfast club. Although Doris didn't drink, she ordered a Tom Collins and was afraid to consume it. She "let it set untouched for so long that the straw uncurled in the glass."
On that same night, movie actor Wayne Morris - best known as the title character in the 1937 version of Kid Galahad - asked her out on a date.
One hundred fifty thousand people attended the 1946 Michigan Peach Festival during Labor Day weekend. They were certainly hungry for peaches after a wartime ration. On that Saturday, Queen Doris received a gigantic key to the city, which was presented by Village President Albert Schultz, to open the festival. According to the September 5, 1946 Romeo Observer Press edition, she "seemed a little preplexed at the size of the key, [so] she was given a smaller one to keep."
At her coronation, Doris was crowned by Charles Figy, commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture.
By the time Doris was interviewed for the retrospective in 1976, she got married to Lieutenant Robert Silver - a bomber pilot, command pilot, and squadron commander in the 385th Bombardment Group; had children; and was living in Florida. At that time, she was a past president of the Coral Gables Jaycee auxiliary and the Greater Miami Chapter of Women in Communications. Both she and her husband were co-presidents of the South Miami Junior High School PTSA.
It was a great success for the festival in such an imporant year, and Doris got to be the center of it all.
To learn more about Doris Sternberg, 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, 1946 and 1976