Everyday Encounters: A Tiburon man’s youth included driving a queen and hijinks on the river
- Francisco Martinez
- 3 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Growing up in Lodi, Roy William “Bill” Burkett once had the distinction of driving around a queen — the Grape Queen, that is.
The title was bestowed on a woman annually from 1934 to 1980 during the September Lodi Grape Festival, a celebration of the region’s grape harvest.
The queen was selected based on “beauty, poise and personality,” with the winner frequently chosen ahead of time and featured in promotional materials, according to a 2004 retrospective published in the Lodi News-Sentinel.
The honor of driving the queen around was a big deal, but Burkett didn’t have to do much to land the job.
“I knew the guy that was in charge,” the Tiburon resident says while hanging out in Zelinsky Park on June 11 with friend Hannah Callaway of Berkeley. Now he’s the one getting the rides. Callaway told Burkett she’s “lucky enough to get to come and help you in your house and drive you around places.”
“She didn’t want to say she’s filling in as a caregiver,” Burkett says of Callaway’s help.
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