Monday night's crowning of the Elizabethtown Fair Queen kicked off the area's fair season.

Hannah Roser, a 10th-grader at Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School, took the crown but, with a mere two contenders, everyone went home with a scholarship.

Runner-up Ellen Parkins, who will head to Temple University in a few weeks to study political science, and Roser, a future cosmetologist, competed on the 35th annual fair's main stage by explaining, "Why you should come to my fair," for the crowd.

Both contestants grew up attending the fair and loved it for the same reasons: food, friends, family and fun.

"The fair is a timeless, ageless event with something for everyone," Parkins said with enthusiasm.

Before completing her reign, 2007 Fair Queen Stephanie Graybill, replete with little gold crown and banner, said from the podium marked "Class of 1948" that the past year has been fantastic for her, including a ride in the town's annual Christmas parade.

"I sat on the back of that open convertible waving for a very long time in the bitter cold until they peeled me off," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm probably the only one who actually started crying up here."

While the judges made their decision, the crowd sang the national anthem, prayed the invocation and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Then fair President Ken Myer handed out awards, three county commissioners made comments and Myer introduced scores of volunteers, sponsors and fair officials.

When the judges still weren't back, entertainers Dan & Galla of the Dan & Galla Musical Show led the crowd in a couple of verses of "You Are My Sunshine" and played a few rounds of Danny's Musical TV Trivia, until Galla finally said, "Where are those judges?"

Even state Attorney General Tom Corbett, arguably the most tanned and best dressed at the fair, made a comment, then coyly worked the crowd, asking, "Is there anything good to eat around here?" before stepping off the stage as Dan played a loud version of "This is My Country" on his standup Casio piano. When the judges finally reappeared, Dan played a Casio drumroll and Roser was crowned.

"I only found out I would be doing this three weeks ago," Roser, 16, said after a series of grip-and-grins for the cameras. "I was uneasy about it, but the idea grew on me."

Both Roser and Parkins said they plan to work to raise awareness about the benefit of competing for the fair queen title. "I'm going to let my friends know about it. Obviously, there's the scholarship," Parkins said.

Meanwhile, out in the rest of the fairgrounds, the smell of french fries wafted through the air, dads carried sleeping babies, teenage boys and girls mingled and everyone milled around stands hawking customized vanity plates, Tupperware, replacement windows and giant dog bones.

Kids pitched Ping-Pong balls at fish bowls, and about 100 people waited in line for $3 Grange milkshakes. Corbett showed up there, too, but enjoyed one without waiting in line.

In a blowup laser tag arena styled to look like a giant war tank, kids paid $5 to blow each other away. Right around the corner, recruiters for the Army and Marines asked young people, "How old are you?" and then told them, "Oh, you're just a baby. When do you graduate?"

At the back of the fairgrounds, a crowd gathered for the swine show, where children smacked pigs in the face with canes and poles to keep them moving for judges.

"If you hit them anywhere else, it bruises the muscle," a judge said.

Today through Saturday, the fairgrounds are open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday's events include a 10 a.m. beef show, the talent show at 6:30 p.m. hosted by Dan & Galla, and the baked goods auction at 7:30 p.m.

E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com