RCA Photo of the Week - August 6, 2026

The Romeo Peach Festival is four weeks away. You know what that means. For this month, we will once again cover one past Peach Queen each week until September 3, when the festivities began.

Let's start with Mozelle Cravens - one of the earliest Peach Queens. In 1936, the 16-year-old from Flint was crowned with that title.

This is another case where we don't know what made the judges select Mozelle. There's not a description of her looks. Even Marion Lapish - the 1935 Peach Queen - was called a stately brunette.

The only two things that we can rely on are the the judges themselves and the criteria. The names of the judges were listed in the August 26, 1936 issue of The Romeo Observer which announced Mozelle as the winner. They were John Coppin, illustrator and painter; Lee F. Redman, a photographer; and John Woodruff, illustrator and art director. All were from Detroit, and Coppin and Redman judged the Peach Queen pagaent for the last two years at that point.

As for the criteria, the contestants were evaluated based on beauty, poise, and personality. The judges must have seen all three in Mozelle to select her as Peach Queen. Looking at the photo, she is beautiful with a big, toothy smile. Maybe that grin won them over. In addition, the Romeo Peach Festival Collection contains more evidence as to why members of her court like Gertrude Parscenski - Miss Macomb County - and Katherine Bruso - Miss Mount Clemens - were chosen for their respective titles than Mozelle for Peach Queen. Whatever the reason, Mozelle still won the crown.

Like in the years prior, Mozelle carried out her duties by representing local peach harvests as well as bringing attention to the orchards and the Peach Festival no matter how big or small the audience was. She and her court visited Mayor Frank Couzens at Detroit City Hall; attended the races at the Detroit Fair Grounds; and were special guests of Harry Reser, a nationally famous band leader, at the Westwood Symphony Gardens in Dearborn as well as at the Firemen's Field Day in Detroit. She even traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and deliver Romeo peaches even though he wasn't available when she arrived. Instead, she gave samples of those peaches to "the secretary of the Chief Executive," likely refering to Marvin H. McIntyre who held that position during that time.

Also like the year prior, she went to Chicago to broadcast her radio appearance on the National Farm and Home Hour for a nation-wide audience. While in that city, she met with Chef Risser of the Chicago Merchanise Mart. Photos of this interaction were taken. One shows the chef teaching Queen Mozelle how to cut a peach, and the other depicts her shoving a peach into his mouth.

Queen Mozelle and her court ended their travels by visting Cleveland to be the guests of honor at the Great Lakes Expedition.

While it's unknown how many people atteneded the 1936 Michigan Peach Festival, newspapers like The Romeo Observer and The Detroit News reported big crowds. Kendrick Kimball of the former provided a photograph of a mass of people watching the Floral Parade.

On the Saturday of the Peach Festival, Queen Mozelle received the key to Romeo, which was presented by Fire Chief Willard A. Pickering. At her coronation, she was crowned by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Thomas Read. Helen Starkweather designed the crown.

With all of things we know, it sounded like the 1936 Peach Festival was a resounding success.

This would be the point, where I would discuss what Mozelle did after her time as Peach Queen. However, little is actually known. For instance, the papers never mentioned her age. I was only able to determine that through various records on Ancestry, which listed her birth in September 1919 and death in 2005. In addition, when the Peach Queen reunion was announced in 1976, she was the only one who couldn't be reached. It's a shame because it would be nice to know what she thought of her time while holding that title.

Luckily, I found out that she moved to California by 1940, appeared in a few films in 1943, and got married twice. One of her husbands was John Hyde - a talent agent who developed Marilyn Monroe's career until his death in 1950. He actually left Mozelle to marry Marilyn, but the latter turned down his proposal. Furthermore, Mozelle was played by Micole Mercurio in the 1996 television film Norma Jean & Marilyn.

Moreover, we have her autograph as well as the ones from members of her court. They include Katherine Bruso - First Maid of Honor, Elsie Everson - Maid of Honor, Dorothea Hammond - Miss Genesee, Gertrude Parscenski - Miss Macomb County, Dolly Campbell - Miss Romeo, Barbara Lewis - Capac, Leone LeBlond - Miss Oakland County, Marie Mahar - Miss Pontiac, Theresa Roseski - Miss Lapeer County, and Mary J. Pakala - Lapeer City.

Regardless of what little information we got, we are thankful to know at least something about Mozelle Cravens and her time as the 1936 Peach Queen.

To learn more about Mozelle Cravens, other Peach Queens, and the Romeo Peach Festival in general by locating the Romeo Peach Festival Collection here and/or contacting 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, 1934-1936 and 1976; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, September 2, 1936, p.4; Ancestry.com, and IMDB.com

The Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection Part 10 - 2018 Peach Queen Samantha Bartolotta

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