OCR Text |
Show War Crop Campaign May Engulf U. S. Called 'Greatest Community Project In History of U. S.' A pace for agricultural America is being set by the 7,000 citizens of Fairmont, Minnesota. Since August 12th the business men, ministers, teachers, school children and even the aged of this community com-munity have joined in an all out effort to harvest Martin county's bumper corn crop. The war manpower commission commis-sion is checking the results of this drive and its success may result in similar applications of the "Fairmont System" to small communities in every agricultural section of the nation. na-tion. The' intense mobilization campaign of the Fairmont Victory Crop Drive committee, commit-tee, headed by Mayor E. B. Nelson, has left the town resplendent re-splendent with posters and banners as though a Midwest Mardi Gras was being ballyhooed rather than several weeks of hard work. Not only are these neighbors harvesting har-vesting the crop. They are also quick-freezing it in a local cannery where many employees of Fairmont stores and shops are working from 7 p. m. to 1 a. m. after finishing The first registrant for the Fairmont Victory Crop Drive is Edward Wade, 42, a machinist fa an ordnance plant. Wade works at the plant from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m. In addition he will work for the crop drive from 7 p. m. to 1 a. m. Sally Gilbert presents him with an arm band. duced them overnight. Most local businesses including the telephone and light companies organized "Minute Men" squads which may be called at any time night or day for emergency work in the fields or at the canning plant. Even the schools are expected to open two weeks later this year so that both teachers and school children can re- the drive committee, sounded the keynote this week by formally issuing is-suing a proclamation, calling for an all-out effort on the part of every citizen of Fairmont to make this crop drive a "guarantee to our fighting fight-ing men that the folks back home are not forgetting the tremendous sacrifice they are making for the their regular day's activities. Several hundred Mexicans, Jamaicans Ja-maicans and other volunteers reached through state wide radio broadcasts are swelling the number of the neighborhood agricultural army. The mayor has made a personal per-sonal appeal to all home owners to rent any available sleeping space. Transportation facilities from nearby near-by towns have been a major difficulty diffi-culty but bus lines are weathering the sudden influx by rehabilitating vehicles that were formerly discarded. dis-carded. City's Facilities Taxed. Bed clothes, pillow cases, and sheets for the latest group of Jamaicans Ja-maicans were needed in a hurry, so the townswomen, Red Cross, Salvation Salva-tion Army, and church groups pro- main at their posts. "Greatest Community Project." The Fairmont Victory Crop Drive, according to George Selke, Minnesota Minne-sota State War Manpower director in Minneapolis, is probably the "greatest community project in the history of the United States." "If the Fairmont Drive is nearly as successful as we feel it will be," he said, "our plan is to suggest extension of this same pattern for victory to every small town in the country. "In our estimation, there has never nev-er been such whole-hearted, sincere and concerted effort on the part of an entire community to supply needed need-ed war materials in this case, food."' Mayor E. B. Nelson, chairman of |