A recent Palmerton Area High School graduate was crowned the 2021 Carbon County Fair Queen in one of several highlights of the fair’s opening ceremonies on Monday.

Caitlyn Smith, daughter of Lisa and Charles Smith of Bowmanstown, was crowned by the 2019 Queen, Katie Aaron.

Also participating in the coronation was Lisa Johnson, event coordinator.

Besides receiving a crown and sash, Smith was presented with a large trophy. She will represent the fair at a statewide competition.

The new fair queen will be attending Moravian College.

Another highlight was the presentation of a large plaque to Fair Board President Robert Silliman.

Silliman, who has served as president since the fair’s inception, announced he is stepping down as president this year. The plaque proclaimed Silliman as “Father of the Fair” and was presented by Liz McElwee, a member of the board of directors.

Barbara Green, representing Blue Mountain Resort, received a “Friend of the Fair” plaque by Tracy Barone, representing the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. She also was honored for her family’s contributions to the fair.

Green honored the Fogel Family of 401 Germans Road, East Penn Township, for having the first bicentennial farm in Carbon County. Members of the family have a large display of the farm at the livestock barn. The farm was founded in the late 1700s.

Doug Houser of Houser Auctioneers received an award for his years of commitment. He annually conducts the livestock auction, which will occur at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Houser said his father, the late Curtis Houser, was the fair’s auctioneer not only since the start of the present Carbon Fair, but for years handled the event at the former Carbon Fair. He said he and his family feel “the fair is about farming; it’s about agriculture.”

Silliman presented plaques to two longtime security staff members: Paul Herzog and Richard Whiteman.

Martha Moyer of Penn Forest Township sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.”

The Palmerton UVO presented the colors and a gun salute.

Since the fair is an agricultural exposition, the Carbon County 4-H Ambassadors recited the 4-H creed.

The arena highlight was a spectacular fireworks display.

The fair had good attendance which grew as the evening progressed.

Silliman said the fireworks display is always a good draw.

He said initially attendance was lower than he anticipated “but people come out for the fireworks.”

Two new attractions are featured at this year’s fair.

One of the midway activities is a hatchet throwing stand. The venue is owned and operated by Mark Manning of Philadelphia, who has been traveling to fairs around the country since 2016. He said, “This is the most beautiful fair I’ve been to.”

Tonight the lumberjack contest starts at 7 o’clock and there is a separate admission fee from the fair.

Today is Children’s Day and youngsters can enjoy the rides with the price of admission from 4-10 p.m. The Children’s Day is sponsored by St. Luke’s Health Network.

Monday’s entertainment was by The Hawks. Duane and Lisa Hawk, who are joined by Dean Hahn, are Palmerton residents who have been performing for over two decades but retired four years ago. They opted to come out of retirement for the fair. They added two other shows to their schedule this year: The West End Fair on Aug. 25 and Phifer’s Ice Dam in Franklin Township on Sept. 19.

Both Duane and Lisa are blind. Duane shared with the audience that one reason he quit performing is because of his health issues, his fingers began deteriorating to the point that a doctor said some had to be amputated.

He said on one of his doctor appointments, they said he showed up on the wrong day, so another doctor looked at the fingers. That doctor told him the hand could be healed.

Amputation never occurred and he said he began playing the guitar again only three months ago.

The Hawks played traditional country music as well as some Christian tunes. Among their songs were such hits as “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” “Kiss An Angel Good Morning,” “Elusive Dreams,” and the Merle Haggard classic “Today I Started Loving You Again.”

Free stage entertainment tonight is by Rick K and the Allnighters with the Belle Tones.