Peachy Pick Up: Kiwanis deliver peaches right on cue

DIXON – The Kiwanis Club distributed 700 boxes of peaches with precision accuracy Thursday with the bulk of the boxes delivered before rain fell.

“It really worked out well,” said drive organizer Rick Brantner, fondly dubbed the ‘Peach Grand Poobah’ by his fellow Kiwanians. “We had lots of good support from our club members as well as the community.”

Brantner was the commander of the peach distribution line that funneled vehicles from Peoria Avenue into the east parking lot of the Dixon High School, winding through orange cones, eventually ending up under a pop-up tent where pre-purchased boxes of peaches were carried to customers’ vehicles.

The “peach truck” arrived between 10 and 10:30 a.m. with skids loaded with the juicy fruit then transferred to a refrigerator truck provided by Scott Wilber.

As customers arrived, boxes stood ready for deployment with other boxes chilling in the truck until they were called up for service.

The club pre-sold 640 boxes and had only 60 extra boxes to sell. Despite a nationwide 2023 peach crop shortage, the Kiwanis Club was able to continue the fundraising sale with Eckert’s Orchard in Belleville.

The annual fundraiser helps support a long list of organizations included Al Morrison Baseball, the Dixon Food Pantry, KSB Early Literacy Program, Shining Star Children’s Advocacy, Kiwanis Neuroscience Research, and the Dixon Municipal Band. For a list of more organizations, visit Facebook: Kiwanis Club of Dixon.

For additional information on the Dixon Kiwanis Club, visit dixonkiwanis.org/index

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Dixon Kiwanian Don Knight carries a box of peaches to a vehicle during the club's distribution day in a Dixon High School parking lot on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media)