On July 3rd,1942, Mayor Harry P. Cain called on the residents of Tacoma to do their patriotic duty on the 4th of July weekend by picking raspberries. Warm, sunny weather had brought the raspberries in the Puyallup Valley to their peak tragically early. They were falling off the vines, and the $75,000,000 berry industry was threatened. Fritzie Herrmann, with her picker's tray beside her, was one of the many who heeded the call. She and seven other YWCA Girl Reserves resided for a month at the Hesketh farm helping to harvest the crop.