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Posted: 08/29/12

Peach Festival »

Above, 2012 Peach Queen Lisa Polley is all smiles with her parents, Glen and Dale Ann, and her brother, Mark, on a 1952 Farmall Super C that he restored.

(Observer photo by Chris Gray)

Peach Queen's goal is to
brighten people's days

by CHRIS GRAY
Observer Staff Writer

      As difficult as nursing school can be, Lisa Polley said one of her biggest challenges was determining what she would do as the Peach Queen.
       After serving as the 2011 Runner-up, Polley earned the honor of wearing the crown and sash as 2012 Peach Queen with a simple but meaningful goal:

Incorporating her compassion for others and her nursing education into the position of Peach Queen.
       "I didn't want to be the person just on the float waving, I feel like that's not who I am and not what this role is supposed to be," she said.
       Polley, 21, was the salutatorian of the Romeo High School Class of 2009 and is currently in her senior year at the Oakland University School of Nursing.
       Like prior Peach Queens, Polley said she was inspired to become the queen to be a good role model and a delegate of the town she has grown up in since 2002.
       "As the Peach Queen, I just wanted to make sure I was a true representative of this town, and hopefully when I went to these other places people saw me and I was that idea of what Romeo is," she said.
       Polley is the daughter of Glen and Dale Ann Polley and younger sister to Mark Polley. She said her family has been supportive of her efforts since she was crowned as Runner-up last year.
       "I'm really thankful that I have a really good family," she said. "I obviously wouldn't be the person I am if it wasn't for them and all their influences."
       In fact, it is the influence of her family that led her to pursuing a career as a nurse. She said her father and brother worked as firefighters, but she also found inspiration from the people that help take care of her family members when they are sick.
       "I just want to be that person that can help those people out," she said. "No one wants to be in the hospital, but your attitude can make that person's day a little bit better."
       In turn, she has used this desire for helping brighten people's days and talking with others in her role as Peach Queen. Specifically, she has made it a goal to work with kids on a more individual level as the Peach Queen.
       For instance, she worked with the Children's Miracle Network alongside Ms. Michigan and Ms. Oakland County and hopes to visit elementary schools once fall rolls around.
       "I feel like on an average day a kid really wouldn't look up to me, but when you put on the crown and sash it's good to be that person with a good attitude and be friendly," she said.
       Along with visiting schools, Polley plans to keep busy with her own schooling in the fall. Along with being the fundraising co-chair for the Student Nursing Association of Oakland University, she works as a nurse tech for Royal Oak Beaumont.
       "I'm the type of person who likes to do the best I can in everything," she said. "It's not that I like to be perfect, I just like to perform to the best of my ability."
       Examples of this shine through her academic experiences, such as belonging to the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society and Oakland University Dean Circle.
       "Since I'm in nursing school I feel obligated to do good because the patients deserve somebody that's an A type of person and not just somebody who is going to settle for a C," she said.
       She plans on graduating this spring with the hopes of becoming a full-time nurse at Royal Oak Beaumont and pursue a doctorate in nursing or work as a nurse practitioner.
       When she has some down time, Polley enjoys hobbies like raising quail, hunting, camping and gardening.
       As Peach Queen she has participated in numerous events outside of Romeo, such as the Armada Fair or a parade in Clarkston, where she drove down the road in her grandparent's Model A.
       "It was the best crowd we've seen aside from our hometown crowd," she said.
       Joining her at these events is Runner-up Leah Hobbs. Polley said she has enjoyed her time as Peach Queen with the help of Hobbs.
       "She's a person who is very compassionate about people and a person who is very tied to the community," she said. "She's a true Romeo person."
       Hobbs, the daughter of John and Barbara, was the 2010 Runner-up as well. She is a junior at Oakland University majoring in Human Resources with a double minor in training and development and in employment systems and standards.
       With the Peach Festival just around the corner, Polley said she looks forward to having kids accompany her in the Children's Parade as well as the Mummer's Parade.
       She also admitted that another event she is looking forward to is the pie-eating contest.
       "I have a sweet tooth," she said with a laugh.