Vanderhoff named Apple Blossom Citizen of the Year
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months 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
Quincy National Night Out scales down
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Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.