Kennewick's Homefront Logistics
Community groups coordinate a fresh fruit supply chain for local soldiers training at Fort Walla Walla.
If everything goes well, the boys of Battery B will have apple sauce for dinner tomorrow. Through the joint efforts of the Commercial club and the Pacific Fruit Produce Company, eight boxes of apples were shipped to Fort Walla Walla today, and more will follow; earlier in the week five boxes of peaches were shipped by the Epworth League of the Methodist church. The question of supplying the boys with fresh fruit was brought up at the Commercial club luncheon. Manager C. C. Lemon of the Pacific Fruit Produce company offered the culls from their packing tables—good apples for cooking, though not marketable. A fund was raised to pay freight charges. Archie Copeland of the Columbia Clothing company is coordinating donations from farmers, who are encouraged to bring fruit in sacks.
“All farmers who wish to make donations of this kind are asked to bring their fruit to Mr. Copeland at the Columbia Clothing company, and he will do the rest.”
During the First World War, Kennewick mobilized its local agricultural surplus to support its own residents sent to the front. Today, the town remains tied to the agricultural cycle of the Columbia Basin, though the logistics have shifted from crates and freight trains to global distribution networks.
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