History of the Romeo District Library Graubner Branch Part 1

March 4, 2026 marks the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the Romeo District Library (RDL) Graubner Branch. Since that branch will be going through an expansion project this year, for this week and next, we'll explore how it came to be.

Let's begin in 1914. That was the year in which Florence Bryce and her husband Gideon bought the land in which the library branch currently stands. They turned it into an orchard, and it was located at 65885 Van Dyke Road, roughly where the Taco Bell is at now. Gideon passed away in 1933, and Florence continued to operate it until her death in 1958.

After her passing, her nephew - a man named Roland Graubner - moved his family from Detroit to that orchard. He purchased the property from the estate, and soon, he named it Graubner's Orchards. An early photo of the stand can be seen here.

The orchard would later look like this.

Roland was a banker by day and a farmer by night. He was also a longtime trustee of the RDL board since its inception in 1969. In 1970, he helped secure a federal grant for an addition for the Kezar Branch by personally raising the money needed for the local share of the project.

But, that wasn't the only library-related contribution Roland would make. When RDL was looking for a new central branch in the late 1990s, the 92-year-old offered to donate 4.2 acres from his orchard for the proposed library. It was Roland's offer to donate a site that many felt was the key element to persuading voters to approve on a bond issue to fund the new building in November 1996.

However, it would take another two years for the board to formally acquire the land. The site was initially determined to be too small to allow for future building expansion. Roland proposed an additional 2.5 acres. In addition, there was a standoff between the library board and Washington Township over zoning regulations for the property. Supervisor Gary Kirsch claimed that the new site would be inconvenient to many Washington Township residents and may cause them to go to the Shelby Township Library instead.

By December 1998, after plenty of back and forth, the library finally got the land, all 6.7 acres of it. Construction officially began on Sunday, August 8, 1999 at the Groundbreaking Ceremony. Architect Clifford Snyder was the first to dig into the ground that was once an orchard. That picture can be seen below with library board member Renee Meyers on the far left, Village President Paul Reiz in the middle, Gary Kirsch, and Library Director Marina Kruse in the back. Amanda Kaptor of Washington is the girl wearing a dress.

Sadly, Roland didn't live to see the library open since he passed away in July 2000 at the age of 96.

Roland Graubner and wife Kathleen at the Groundbreaking Ceremony

Stay tuned next week when we look at Part 2 of the history of the RDL Graubner Branch.

To learn more about the history of the Graubner Branch, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Graubner Family Collection

The Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection Part 6 - 2025 Peach Queen Olivia Lynn

The Romeo Peach Festival is six months 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. Current Peach Queen Olivia Lynn wore said sticker after we interviewed her at last year's Peach Festival.

All interviews will be apart of the digital Romeo Peach Festival Oral History Collection. Each will contain the audio and transcript. We recently added Queen Olivia's interview to said digital collection.

While we were conducting oral history interviews at the Romeo Community Center last year, the current Peach Queen and her entourage unexpectedly showed up. She was more than willing to share her story of her experiences with the Peach Festival, why she wanted to become Peach Queen, and how it has influenced her life.

Queen Olivia mentioned that while growing up in Washington Township, she and her family would go to the Peach Festival Floral parade. She specifically recalled looking at the Peach Queen on the float and thinking, "She looks like a princess."

Olivia loved what the Peach Queen believed in and how beautiful she was on the outside and inside. Her family also encouraged her to try out by saying that one day, she'll be Peach Queen. Olivia applied when she found out that the pagaent was hosting last year.

She was beyond excited when she won the Peach Queen crown.

When we were talking, Queen Olivia said that her favorite part while carrying out her duties were the kids. At that point, she had gone to various community events like KIDSFEST at the Romeo Village Park and camps for blind and other disabled children. She enjoyed hanging out, playing, and getting pictures with them. While at KIDSFEST, Olivia loved how the kids would shout, "Mommy, it's a princess!"

When asked about how being a Peach Queen influenced her life, Olivia said that it made her more sociable and outgoing. Talking to people about her life took her out of her comfort zone. This made her work on her communications skills because she's being "twenty-questioned every single day."

Since the modern Peach Queen's focus is to make a difference in the area, Queen Olivia's plans for the rest of her reign are to establish two fundraisers. One of them is for a scholarship called the Peach Grant for a Romeo High School senior who's doing good in the community and showing kindness to others. She wanted to spread light onto someone who's making a difference and to give a message for others to encourage them to do the same.

The other is supporting the Common Grounds Fund - a 24/7 mental health crisis center. For that one, she wanted to let people know that they are loved, supported, and valued. In addition, she wanted to champion something that people could turn to in a time of crisis.

Before we ended our interview, I asked Queen Olivia about her advice for anybody looking to compete in future Peach Queen pagaents. She answered it with the following: "I would say go for it and give it your best. Stay true to yourself, stay true to your values, and never change for anyone. If you have a desire to do anything, go for it and don't let anyone stop you."

Perfect advice!

Along with the photo seen above, intern Jo and I took some other pictures with Queen Olivia, which are below.

Queen Olivia and I had a great time talking about the Romeo Peach Festival and her experiences as the 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 2025 Peach Queen Olivia Lynn 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