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 Lauren Kloock - a Peach Queen with a family history tied to the Peach Festival.
In 2006, the 18-year-old from Romeo was crowned with the Peach Queen title for that year, and it was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. As a little girl growing up in Romeo, she always aspired to be a part of the parade's royalty. She added, "I've seen every parade since I was a little kid and I've always wanted to be a Peach Queen."
How did she do it? The answer lies in the August 30, 2006 issue of The Romeo Observer. In it, staff writer Ryan Loftis cites a quote from Peach Queen chaperone Sue Hatton-Vagi, who said that the judges were impressed with Lauren's attitude. She further explains in the article, "The judges were overwhelmed with her enthusiasm...They were just so taken with that."
That enthusiasm came from the fact that Lauren was a hometown girl. Vagi confirmed this by pointing out how Lauren's familiarity gave her an advantage as Peach Queen. She clarified, "You don't have to be a hometown girl to be Peach Queen, but when they are hometown girls, I think there's a little more enthusiasm...When you've got the people here it does give a little more plus to the girls because they're around people they know and who know them."
Additionally, Lauren graduated from Romeo High School the same year she competed in the Peach Queen Pageant. While at school, she was a member of the high school women's golf team, a student mentor, and a member of the Students Enriching Romeo through Volunteer Experience (SERVE) program. She also worked at the Romeo-Washington-Bruce Parks and Recreation in the Tot's program. At the time, Lauren was planning on attending Oakland University to major in education or public relations.
What most likely allowed her to claim the Peach Queen title was the family history with the Peach Festival itself. Her great-grandmother, Dorothy Compton, attended the very first Peach Festival in 1931 and went there every year by 2006. She still had her 1931 program, which cost a dime at that time. Her grandmother, Ruth Kloock, was in the 1935 Children's Parade as a child.
Lauren and Ruth even "set up chairs in the same spot every year to watch the Peach Festival parade."
Lauren, her father, and siblings also participated in the previous Peach Festival parades. While there has never been a Peach Queen in the family, changing that was a topic of conversation with the Kloocks. Lauren said, "We've always talked, me and my cousins, about how one of us should do it for my grandmother."
That's why she wanted to become a Peach Queen - for her grandmother and great-grandmother. The family provided a photo of Lauren, Dorothy, and Ruth for the August 30th issue of The Romeo Observer to emphasize that point.
2006 marked the 75th anniversary of the Romeo Peach Festival, so the judges were certainly looking to the past as well as to the future. They also wanted their Peach Queens to be good role models in the community. Given her educational, work, and hometown background, Lauren certainly fit that bill and deserved to be Peach Queen.
Her duties were similar to that of previous Peach Queens. Queen Lauren promoted the Peach Festival by attending various parades in Port Huron and Algonac and the first annual Romeo Victorian Festival. She even signed copies of The Romeo Peach Festival book along with author David McLaughlin at Miller's Big Red Orchard in October 2006. The book came out earlier that year.
In addition, there was a charitable opportunity for Queen Lauren. She originally planned to donate the $200 she "received for a dress to the Gilliam family in Armada. After the Gilliam family had a new house built for them courtesy of ABC's 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,' [she] decided to donate the money to another family that was in the running for a new house from 'Extreme Makeover.'"
There's no doubt that the Romeo Peach Festival has played a major role in Lauren Kloock's life. With her love of family and tradition, I wouldn't be surprised if a future member of the Kloocks participates in the Peach Festival in a similar way she did. We shall see.
To learn more about Lauren Kloock, 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, 2006 and Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, May 3, 2006, p.1-A and 12-A; August 30, 2006, p.1-B; and September 27, 2006, p.7-A