Massimo Menicou of Vacaville won the 2025 JoAn Giannoni Scholarship of $8000, named for the Friends of the Dixon May Fair's former longtime secretary of Dixon. This is the second highest award given by the Friends in its Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program. He is pictured with Carrie Hamel of Dixon, scholarship chair. Photo courtesy of Kathy Keatley Garvey

SOLANO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - The Friends of the Dixon May Fair will award nine college scholarships totaling $31,000 in its 2026 Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program, open to Solano County high school graduates who are majoring in an agricultural field in either a university or community college within the United States. 

Applications are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is March 1. Since 2003, the Friends have awarded $306,750 in scholarships to Solano County residents majoring in agriculture, announced Carrie Hamel of Dixon, the scholarship chair.  Initially only Solano County high school graduates attending college in California were eligible to enter. 

In the four-year university or college category, available scholarships include the Donnie Huffman Presidential Scholarship Award of $8,000, the JoAn Giannoni Scholarship Award of $5,000, the Ester Armstrong Memorial Scholarship Award of $4,000 and the Joe Gates Memorial Scholarship Award of $3,500. Two Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarships, each worth $3,500, are also offered.

In the two-year community college category, the available awards include the Jack Hopkins Scholarship Award of $1,500 and two additional scholarship awards of $1,000 each.

The Friends, an all-volunteer, service-oriented organization, is the fundraising arm of the Dixon May Fair. Headed by President Gilbert "Gil" Molina of Vacaville, the organization raises funds through the sale of beverages at the four-day fair, and donates the proceeds for building and grounds improvements, college scholarships and exhibitor awards.

Applicants are scored on personal, civic and academic experience; academic standing; personal commitment and established goals; leadership potential; and civic accomplishments. Most applicants have experience in 4-H, FFA or Grange-criteria desired but not mandated, Hamel said.

Continuing scholarship winners may apply up to four times, Hamel said. Scholarship checks can be used only for tuition, fees, books, materials and supplies, housing, and meals purchased on campus. 

The 2025 recipients:  

Sam Esperson of Rio Vista, a member of the California Polytechnic Institute (Cal Poly) Class of 2026 and an agricultural systems management major, received the top award, the $8000 Donnie Huffman Presidential Scholarship. Esperson, a 2022 graduate of Rio Vista High School, is also a previous recipient of the presidential award.

Sam Esperson of Rio Vista won the 2025 Presidential Scholarship Award of $8,000, the highest award given by the Friends of the Dixon May Fair in its Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program. Photo courtesy of Kathy Keatley Garvey

Massimo Menicou of Vacaville won the $5000 JoAn Giannoni Scholarship, named for the Friends’ former longtime secretary of Dixon.  Menicou, a 2024 graduate of Vacaville High School, and a student at University of Nevada, plans to become a veterinarian. He also is a previous award recipient.

Elena Mendonsa of Vacaville, a student at Chico State University, won the $4000 Ester Armstrong Memorial Scholarship. A 2024 graduate of Vacaville Christian High School, she is majoring in animal science and plans to become a veterinarian. The Armstrong scholarship memorializes a former director of the California Division of Fairs and Expositions who died in 2009 of cancer. Armstrong served as interim chief executive officer of the Dixon May Fair from 2006 to 2009.

Cody Barr of Dixon won the $3500 Joe Gates Memorial Scholarship. memorializing the longtime auctioneer of the Dixon May Fair Junior Livestock Auction.  Barr is a member of the Dixon High School Class of 2025 and was accepted at Utah State University, where he is majoring in agribusiness, with an emphasis in farm and ranch management. . Gates, a Rio Vista resident, died of COVID in February 2021. 

Brianne Castelli of Dixon won a $3500 Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship. She is a member of the Dixon High School Class of 2025 and a student at Montana State University. She plans to become a veterinarian.

Payton King of Fairfield won a $3500 Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship. A member of the Rodriguez High School Class of 2025, Fairfield, she was accepted at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, and is majoring in agricultural business.

In the community college category, Vincent Perry of Vacaville received the $1500 Jack Hopkins Memorial Scholarship. A member of the Vacaville High School Class of 2025, he was accepted at Butte College and is majoring in agricultural business. Hopkins (1922-2009), a fruit rancher and lifelong resident of Fairfield and Suisun, was a strong supporter of the Junior Livestock Auctions at the Dixon May Fair and Solano County Fair.

The application form can be downloaded from the Friends of the Fair Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheDixonMayFair or  at https://tinyurl.com/mwnn29vu. For more information, contact Carrie Hamel at [email protected] or (530) 219-8090.

Completed application packets must be postmarked no later than 5 p.m. on March 1, 2026 and mailed to: Scholarship Committee, Friends of Dixon May Fair, P.O. Box 242, Dixon, CA 95620.

The scholarship committee, chaired by Hamel, also includes Tootie Huffman, Linda Molina, Kathy Keatley Garvey, and Kristy Vasquez all of Vacaville, and Sue Miracle and Michelle Robinson of Dixon.  

The scholarship program was named the Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program in honor of the founding president Donnie Huffman (1940-2023), and his wife, Tootie, the founding treasurer. Donnie died June 17, 2023 after a long battle with cancer. Tootie continues as a Friends of the Fair volunteer.