Today is the first day of the Romeo Peach Festival! I hope that everyone attending will have a great time. You might see me there because on Friday, September 4, and Saturday, September 5, I will be at the Romeo Community Center from 10am to 5pm conducting oral history interviews, so people of all ages can share their memories of the festival. Our table will include plenty of Peach Festival-related photos, including of the Peach Queen seen here.
She's Emilee Wichtner - a 2010s Peach Queen who wanted to build children's self-esteem.
In 2016, the 18-year-old from Washington Township was crowned with that title. While talking to The Record, Emilee reflected on why she won. She said, "I feel that because I definitely showed the judges that I am down to earth...I think that definitely won them over versus someone who may have said otherwise."
The articles written about her certainly backed that up. The 2016 Romeo Peach Festival program revealed that she was a 2016 honors graduate from Romeo High School "where she was three-time student of the month, served as a peer mediation leader and a link crew leader."
Emilee received two different scholarships from the school - the Jenna Balabuch and Bo Jangles Memorial Scholarship and the Romeo High School Counseling Office Scholarship. She was also active in the Key Club International and helped organize and chaperone several functions with students from local elementary schools.
At the time, she was set to spend two years at Macomb Community College with plans to transfer to Oakland University to major in psychology. Her goal was to become a psychologist specializing in adolescents and relationships. Emilee also was in the process of writing her first novel.
About her educational ambitions, she gave this advice, "Nothing is going to hold you back unless you let it hold you back."
In addition, Emilee's mother Betiann Wichtner (nee Borton) won Miss Congeniality in the 1989 Peach Queen Pageant. Karen Hamilton took a picture of the latter receiving the award from Phil Weber of the Romeo-Washington Chamber of Commerce for the June 21, 1989 issue of The Romeo Observer. It can be seen below.
Emilee wanted to follow in her mom's footsteps by entering the contest. As she explained, "My mom is my role model...Her and her friends encouraged me to join. They said, 'This is for you - it is your opportunity to make a difference, go for it.'"
Given all of her accomplishments and to remain humble about it must have spoken volumes to the judges. Emilee's resume is quite impressive and proves how involved she was in the community. It also must have helped that she had a relative who participated in the Peach Queen Pageant before. She was the perfect role model to become the next Peach Queen.
Her duties were similar to that of previous Peach Queens. She promoted the Peach Festival by participating in many parades and events through southeast Michigan. Two of them were the Relay for Life of the Greater Romeo Area and an open house at the Starkweather Art Center. At the latter, photographs of all Romeo Peach Queens were on display through Labor Day weekend. Queen Emilee can be seen next to one of the displays at the open house.
While at one of these events, Queen Emilee got to make a direct difference for one child. During a parade, she noticed that a five or six year old boy was being teased by a group of older boys. According to her, "We ended up stopping the float and I blew him a kiss. You could tell it just melted his entire world that I was reaching out to him."
Queen Emilee believed in building children's self-esteem. As she explains, "I think it is so important to get that message across to kids especially while they are younger. They need to know that you are beautiful don't care about what anyone else says...Keep smiling. Stay beautiful. You're awesome."
That is such wonderful advice!
The Romeo Peach Festival was a great success in 2016. Thousands attended, and the peach and apple crops did well despite a drought that occurred earlier that year. And, Emilee Wichtner, who wanted to build children's self esteem and remained down-to-earth, was Peach Queen.
To learn more about Emilee Wichtner, 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.
If you want to share your memories and experiences about the Peach Festival, you can contact the archives at the email above 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 Collection, 2016; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, June 21, 1989, p.2-A; and The Record, June 1-7, 2016, p.5B and p.8B