Maryland State Fair

"ALIVE" assured the sign outside a fair booth that depicted exotic women in skimpy bikinis wrapped in snakes.Inside the booth was "Zona and her Snakes" -- Kathy Powell, 35, who has managed to hang onto her life while playing Zona for almost a year now, with Koko the boa and Caesar the python.At the 110th annual Maryland State Fair that continues through this holiday weekend in Timonium, Powell's job is to lounge on a bean bag chair, dressed in gym shorts and a modest top, while the 8-foot boa and 10-foot python uncoil across her lap.Her occupation seemed to be something she wanted to do since she was a girl plying Georgia swimming holes, she said.

You can't be serious, people said, when I announced my intention to spend the better part of the weekend at the Maryland State Fair. True, I no longer had small children. Who, then, would be clamoring for more tickets to go on more rides, more cash to buy more deep-fried snacks? Therein lies the error. The fair is not about the rides and the greasy food — at least not to me. If you want rides, go to Hershey Park. The State Fair is an agricultural festival. It's all about the animals.

Men's college lacrosse Johns Hopkins grad Rewkowski, Maryland's Phipps to join Hoyas staff The Georgetown men's lacrosse program is expected to fill its two full-time assistant coaching positions by naming Matt Rewkowski (Johns Hopkins) offensive coordinator and Brian Phipps (Maryland, Severn) an assistant in charge of goalies, three sources familiar with the search said Tuesday. Rewkowski, 29, had been the offensive coordinator at Cornell the past two seasons. He also had spent four seasons at Hofstra and one at Denver.

Many people going to the Maryland State Fair will end up spending money on the funnel cakes and games of chance, but some, like Karen Sadler, will actually profit from the visit.Sadler is one of the 417 people who have found leads on accounts at the state comptroller's booth in the Exhibition Hall, where a crew of about six state workers run three computers to help people at the fair find unclaimed property from forgotten insurance proceeds, bank accounts, investment dividends and utility deposits.

It's far from your ordinary courtroom.For starters, it has no roof. Judges, lawyers and litigants gather under a large tent, a la Ringling Bros.Its location is improbable, on the fringes of the bustling state fair grounds in Timonium. During a trial, testimony might be interrupted by a carnival barker or drowned out by a bellowing cow.Then there are the jurors. They wear ball caps and sunglasses if they like. They wander in and out as they please. They operate under the most liberal dress policy of any court in America.

When she was asked to run the Maryland State Fair's flowers and plants division in 1962, Eleanor "Dink" Rigger was a vegetable specialist who had never seriously contemplated the complexion of a rose, much less the fury of a competitor whose flower arrangement wilted prematurely in a steamy exhibition hall.That same year, 12-year-old Harvey Doster went looking for his ++ first ribbon at the fair. He was already a veteran competitor at the Hereford Junior Farm Fair, where his giant marigolds and zinnias, cultivated in his father's sprawling Sparks seed bed, garnered ribbons galore.

Competitive cooks interested in entering their baked goods, candy and other treats in the Maryland State Fair should write for rules, regulations and required forms. The address is: Maryland State Fair Administration Office, P.O. Box 188, Timonium, Md. 21093-0188. Readers can also call Joan Neels at 252-0200 and request the information.The fair runs from Aug. 24 to Sept. 2 at the Timonium Fairgrounds.In addition to the regular categories of yeast breads and rolls, cookies, pies and such, there is a special chocolate cake contest and a quick bread contest sponsored by Land O' Lakes Inc.

Fair's prize winners Check out the new Maryland State Fair Cookbook, a collection of favorite recipes of exhibitors, staff and other friends of the fair. It also features prize-winning recipes from previous fairs, including Better Than a Thrill on Blueberry Hill pie, which earned a first-place ribbon last year. Fairgoers can purchase the hardcover book for $10. Or write a check for $13 to Maryland State Fair and mail your order to Maryland State Fair, P.O. Box 188, Timonium, MD 21094-0188.

"Ladies and gentlemen, presenting for the first time: Tiny Tasha, the world's smallest woman!" "I'm scared," the little girl in the blue jumper protests. "I'M SCARED." She digs her pink-and-white sneakers into the ground, but it does no good. "There's nothing to be afraid of," the little girl's godmother says, yanking her into the booth. "Don't be silly." The child gives up the struggle and begins walking under her own power. But she's intent on keeping her distance. She forces herself around the corner of the exhibit, but stays close to the back wall, as far from the attraction as she can manage in this tight space.

The plan was to fire up about a dozen hot-air balloons in an on-the-ground display for the Maryland State Fair Sponsor's Party. The skies fired down instead, making a thunderstorm and deluge of water the only outdoor display that night.However, spirits stayed high and dry inside the Timonium Fairgrounds' Vista Room, where some 75 ballooning buffs enjoyed a buffet of crab cakes and roast beef.Among those in this fun bunch: Grove Miller, president and board chair of the Maryland State Fair; Max Mosner, vice president and general manager of the fair; Andy Cashman, assistant general manager of the fair; Kevin Poeppelman, fair balloonmeister; Becky Petrehn, Lorin Schwartz, Roy Caton, John Addison, Bennett Schwontkowski, Ron Martin and Donna Fox, balloon pilots; Dallas Arthur, president of Carrollton Bank; Mike Lidinsky, Maryland distributor for Korbel Champagne; Rick Broderick, president of the Bees Distributing Co.; and Cheryl Phelps, systems analyst for McCormick & Co.