Bill Fitzgerald, Mann Orchards, Talks Topsfield Fair Scholarships

The annual Topsfield Fair doesn’t open until Oct. 2, but it isn’t too early for area high school students to apply for available scholarships.Mann Orchards’ Bill Fitzgerald, president of Topsfield Fair, stopped by 97.9 WHAV FM recently to make sure students know $57,000 in scholarships was awarded last year and applications are available now. Fitzgerald also provided a sneak preview of the 2020 fair.Scholarships are available to 45 local high school seniors, and the money isn’t tied to agricultural pursuits. Awards are typically one-time payments of $1,000, but Fitzgerald says a new program was introduced last year.“In this past year—along with the $1,000, one-year, one-time scholarships—we’ve instituted a program down at the fairgrounds where we give six local students a $1,000 scholarship for four years,” Fitzgerald told WHAV’s Win Damon.Scholarship applications, available at Topsfieldfair.org, are due April 1Musical artists at Topsfield Field this fall include Phil Vassar, 38 Special, B.J. Thomas, Marie Osmond and a 30-piece orchestra.Support the show