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Chapter 5
By: Clement VanWagoner
 Dad did raise a lot of strawberries and raspberries. After a
few trips to town with fruit, Dad turned this job over to me. I used to take the rear seat out of the Chrysler and fill the area
with crates of berries. I would go to Bay City and Saginaw markets, also to Alpena, Mio, West Branch, and Grayling to
sell berries. I was always able to sell them, I never had to bring any of them home. We picked and sold a lot of berries,
many bushels, Mother also canned some. Dad would even let me go to market alone. We never had a flat tire to
interfere with the job. This was a wonderful lesson for me. One time when my Dad and I took a load of berries to Alpena on a Saturday, we found the stores loaded with
berries. Other fruit growers had picked the same day. So I asked my Dad what we should do. He said, we will hurt
them. So we drove into the residential area and he and I went from door to door to sell the berries. I remember going to one of the homes in Alpena, rapping on the door and when
the door opened, I said to the lady we have berries to sell for 8 cents per quart. She said, “They look nice, but I can’t
afford to buy any.” So I left. When I was out to the street, she hollered to me and said would I sell three quarts for a quarter. I said yes and made the sale
. I couldn’t wait until I got back to my dad and told him what had happened. I thought he would go into orbit, because he laughed so hard!
We always had lots of strawberries and in season we literally lived on strawberry shortcake. I still like Soda biscuits.
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