If a giant dome fell from the sky sealing the Elizabethtown Fair from the rest of the world, there is a good chance the event would spur its own biosphere.

Resources could last years at the 34th annual fair and some attendees, especially those in sandals, would likely embrace the giant cover as shelter from the stubborn rain, which soaked the fairgrounds all through opening night on Monday.

Trapped critters and comforts would include furry bunnies and prickly reptiles, a four-tiered chocolate fountain, oak-wood dining rooms, fireplaces, a baby grand piano, funnel cakes galore, plates of fries fit (and named) for a rhino, windows, sinks, bathtubs, and 2-foot-wide sunflower heads.

Appropriately, Tom Campbell thinks of the fair as a parallel universe. One in which he's responsible for dinner, adds his wife Dee Campbell.

The couple have been a staple at the fair for 36 years.

"He comes every year, every night, because he says it's like Christmas," Dee said, nudging Tom.

"It's my week to cook," he explained. So efficient is his culinary skill, he bragged, that Campbell can simply slide a sheet of green across a counter and — Voila! — instant chili dogs for dinner.

The Campbells were drying their umbrellas inside a makeshift wooden hut with rows of free chocolate treats from Dove.

Under a tent nearby Darrel Ford slurped the remainder of his vanilla milkshake, while his parents, Stephanie and Daniel Ford, waited for their Japanese calligraphy painting to dry.

A visiting Japanese exchange student, Daisuke Ho, 18, swirled the word "peace" — pronounced "heiwa," in Japanese — onto a large white sheet at the Fords' request.

"What a kick to come all the way from Japan and spend it at the Elizabethtown Fair," Daniel marveled.

From the other side of the tent, the sound of a piano Avalanche, as composed by Stephen Heller, thundered under the small fingers of Lydia Rittenhouse of Elizabethtown. The 13-year-old musician came to visit her piano tuner, Mike Carraher, who debuted his new company, Performance Pianos, formed just one month ago.

Carraher and his business partner Keith Bowman, displayed two shiny Chinese pianos, wondering when their impressive sound will sour under the oppressive humidity.

Bowman predicted a week, just in time for the end of the festivities.

Meanwhile, in a different music genre, a young singing cowboy, Aaron Kelly, 14, was tear-jerking his audience with his composition "Daddy Come Home," which he dedicated "to all the veterans and their families."

"I know that you're a hero and they need you in this war," he wailed, tapping a suede boot, "but maybe you can tell them that we need you more."

With rivaling enthusiasm, a group of field hockey players from Elizabethtown High School pelted baseballs at a circle, hoping to dunk their coach, Andy Derr, into a frigid water tank. Three balls went for one dollar to benefit the girls field hockey team.

"You cold, Mr. Derr?" students teased from a few feet away, emboldened by the power of a buck.

"Come on," Derr yelled from the tub to unsuccessful pitchers. "Get your head in the game."

Unlike Derr, 16-year-old Stephanie Graybill, the fair's new queen, was trying her best to stay dry!\q— a trying task considering she'd been swerving her long pink gown and gold sandals through the puddles for hours.

A home-schooled aspiring actress, Graybill won a $1,000 college scholarship which she's thinking about spending at Franklin & Marshall or New York University in a few years.

Graybill beat five older girls for the title. In the final portion of the competition, each contestant was asked to answer an impromptu question from the judges. The winner was asked to share a piece of advice she'd cherished in her life. Graybill immediately recalled a phrase often repeated by many members of her family.

"If you do your best and that's as far as you can go — that's perfection," she said.

The Elizabethtown event, which kicks off the county fair season, will continue until Saturday. Highlights include:

Today: 6:30 talent show, 7:30 baked-goods auction, 8:30 Masters of the Chainsaw show.

Wednesday: (Senior Day): 8 a.m. beef show, 2 p.m. E-town Idol Flyaway Contest, 7 p.m. battle of the bands and tractor parade.

Thursday: 9 a.m. dairy show, 5 p.m. celebrity milking contest, 6:30 p.m. sale of champions, 8 p.m. mud flaps.

Friday: 7 p.m. arts and crafts auction, 8 p.m. "Smokin' Joe" and his Wild Horse Band.

Saturday: 11 a.m. Steven Courtney, 1 p.m. arm wrestling contest, 10:45 p.m. fireworks.

A complete schedule is available at: www.pafairs.org/etownfair/.

CONTACT US: alitvak@LNPnews.com or 481-6020