Appeal file photo Carnival worker Dameta Jones cleans the window of a food concession stand in this photo from last year's RSVP Spring Fun Fair. This year's fair opens at Mills Park today at 4 p.m.
Northern Nevada's Retired and Senior Volunteer Program has a suggestion for where to go for a little Mother's Day celebration: the fair.
The 20th annual RSVP Spring Fun Fair kicks off today and extends through Mother's Day on Sunday, when carnival rides are free for all moms all day.
The Nevada Rural Counties RSVP program, which began 32 years ago in Carson City, added the "Salute to Moms" to the fair a few years ago.
"It's their day, and they have a blast," said rural counties RSVP Executive Director Janice Ayres.
The fair is one of the program's biggest and most successful fund-raising events of the year, possibly behind their Fourth of July event.
Ayres said the vast majority of the event's visitors come in from out of town to walk the park and partake of the games on Mother's Day.
It's also the first outdoor event in Carson City of the spring, said Ayres, kicking off the season for outdoor recreation and entertainment.
The fair at Mills Park opens at 4 p.m. today and Friday, running until midnight both nights.
On Saturday, the games, rides, food and arts and craft booths will be open from noon to midnight, and on Sunday, from noon to 11 p.m. Admission is free.
Proceeds from the fair go toward RSVP's Home Companion Program, which assists homebound seniors so they can remain independent and in their homes as long as possible.
People 55 years and older volunteer to serve in RSVP. Nationwide, an estimated 450,000 volunteers put in about 70 million hours last year, according to the group's Web site.
Volunteers perform work in homes as well as at nutrition sites, schools, hospitals, thrift shops and convalescent centers.
n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.
