Vanderhoff named Apple Blossom Citizen of the Year
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 2 weeks AGO
Delbert Vanderhoff
COURTESY PHOTO/APPLE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | May 6, 2026 2:08 PM
WENATCHEE — Delbert Vanderhoff of Wenatchee had no idea he’d been named the 2026 Apple Blossom Citizen of the Year.
“I can’t believe they did that,” Vanderhoff said. “I’ve always told my kids, ‘This is a small town. I know everybody. You can probably do things, but you need to understand that I will find out.’ When Darci (Christopherson) came in and surprised me, I said, ‘I can’t believe you kept it a secret.’”
Christopherson, the Apple Blossom Festival coordinator, said Vanderhoff was selected by a board made up of past winners, who look for things like community involvement, commitment to furthering the industry and mentoring the next generation of growers.
“(Vanderhoff) has been in the business since he graduated high school,” Christopherson said. “He’s very passionate about it.”
Vanderhoff is the owner of Chamberlin Ag, a farm supply business his father co-founded in 1949. A native of Wenatchee, Vanderhoff graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1971, according to the Apple Blossom Festival’s announcement of his award. He attended Washington State University, then returned home in 1974 to help his father run the business. Today, Chamberlin Ag operates facilities in Wenatchee; Cashmere; Hood River, Oregon and Dublin, California.
“I also grow apples, pears, cherries and wine grapes myself,” Vanderhoff said. “So I have a little bit of a background and knowledge of what the growers go through.”
These are difficult times for farmers, Vanderhoff said.
“I wish the ag industry as a whole was doing a little bit better than it is,” he said. “Across the whole country, there aren’t very many segments of ag that are doing well … The price of fruit that we’re selling now is about the same as what it was 15 or 20 years ago, but our labor inputs are quadruple, and our product inputs are way up. It’s putting a struggle on guys to be able to manage all that.”
International issues like trade barriers and tariffs don’t help, Vanderhoff said. Washington is producing a lot of apples, he said, and opening up new markets would give them a place to sell them.
“Food security is a big issue, and I think we’re making a lot of strides there,” Vanderhoff said. “Overall, in the U.S., we have probably the safest, cheapest food supply in the world. It’s security for our citizens and all across the world.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Hard-earned success
BBCC students step into the world armed with diplomas and courage
MOSES LAKE — Genuine success is neither quick nor easy, as the students who graduated Thursday from Big Bend Community College attested. There's a simple story I remember when I was younger,” Associated Student Body President Pedro Lopez said, alternating between English and Spanish. “It's about a kid who plants a seed. At first nothing happens. They water it every day, but the ground still looks the same. They start to wonder if anything is happening at all. They think about digging it up to check, that maybe it didn't work. Maybe nothing is growing. But they keep watering anyway.
Flags, fireworks and parades
Basin communities gear up for the Fourth of July
MOSES LAKE — The United States only turns 250 years old once, and Basin communities are preparing to celebrate in a big way. Moses Lake starts the festivities a day early, with its Red, White and Boom celebration on July 3. There will be food vendors in McCosh Park and a live performance by the 133d Army National Guard Band, followed by fireworks at 10 p.m. The town named for the Father of our Country will host festivities all day, including a fun run, parade, patriotic program and the world’s largest cherry pie at the George Community Hall. The Quincy Valley Historical Society will bring its American History Mobile Museum, and Jeremy McComb’s Honky-Tonk Circus will perform, sponsored by Veterans Operation Creation. The day will finish with fireworks at dusk.
MLCC to host conversational town hall Thursday
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Community Coalition will try to kick-start some conversations Thursday at a town hall titled “What's Troubling You, Moses Lake?” “The feedback that we've gotten for all of our prior town halls is people enjoyed them, but they wish there was more of an opportunity to talk,” said Coalition Coordinator Megan Watson. “So we (said), ‘Let's create a town hall event where that's the point – where you come and talk in small groups.’” The coalition holds town hall meetings every year, Watson said, and in the past they’ve focused on specific issues, like gangs or addiction, with local experts on those subjects giving information to the community. This time, Watson said, the MLCC is partnering with Braver Angels, a national organization dedicated to helping Americans practice courageous citizenship across political differences, according to its website. The event, which will take place at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, is free and open to the public.