Edwin and Marian Fry and family inducted into MD Agriculture Hall of Fame
Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley inducted the family of Edwin R. Fry, a 1969 graduate from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) at the University of Maryland, into the state Agriculture Hall of Fame on Thursday, February 7th. The induction was made before nearly 700 agricultural leaders and legislators from across the state during the annual “Taste of Maryland Agriculture” event held in Annapolis.
Members of the Fry family are the 44th recipients of this prestigious distinction. Accepting the honor were Edwin R. Fry and his wife Marian, a 1970 UMD graduate in Sociology, as well as sons Matthew and his wife Megan Fry, and Chuck and his wife Kathryn Fry. Also in attendance from the family were daughter Amanda and her husband Lt. Col. David Halla.
“We are very pleased to welcome the Fry Family into the Hall of Fame. They are a truly remarkable representative of the many farm families who work so hard to keep Maryland’s agricultural industry strong, diverse and sustainable,” said Governor O’Malley. “For at least three generations, the Frys have demonstrated, not just a willingness but a strong desire to diversify their operation and adopt new technologies and practices that make them both environmental stewards as well as creative, innovative and successful businesses.”
The Edwin Fry Family owns and leases 1,350 acres of Fair Hill Farms, Inc., in Kent County and leases 800 acres of the Maryland Sunrise Farm, LLC, in Anne Arundel County. The business includes a Holstein and Brown Swiss milking herd, an Angus beef herd, grain, hay, vegetables, facility rentals and agri-tourism. The farm land includes1,445 acres that are certified organic.
The Fry family patriarch, Edwin C. “Pop” Fry, known as a leader and innovator in Maryland agriculture, died in June of last year. He served on the Maryland Agriculture Advisory Board (which was, at the time, part of the Board of Regents at the University of Maryland), and later on the Maryland Agricultural Commission. He received the Certificate of Merit Award in Agriculture from the University of Maryland in 1976.
Edwin Fry describes the history of his family’s farming legacy in this photo storybook created by Edwin Remsberg Photographs:
