Fair is a celebration of recovery

Kimberley McGee

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 8:48 a.m.

There will be a fair Saturday at Sammy Davis Jr. Center Festival Plaza at Lorenzi Park. There will be music, food and games.

But there will also be stories behind many of the faces of the people participating -- stories of sadness, regret and, more importantly, recovery.

The statewide Drug and Alcohol Recovery Fair will be held in observance of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which is September.

The fair will begin with a 5k Fun Run and Walk, and will also feature music by local reggae band Bonafide Inc. and the performance of a play by Vision Theater, a local drama group that signs plays for the deaf, about recovery from substance abuse.

A graduation ceremony for 50 people who have completed the state-funded called Outpatient and Residential recovery programs will take place before the closing ceremony at 2 p.m.

Local businesses have donated gifts to be raffled, including a $50 gift certificate to Tuscany Grill, four tickets to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Event in October at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and dinner for two at the Plaza's Center Stage restaurant.

Fairs in Reno and Elko will also take place Saturday as part of the statewide plan to educate the public about available recovery programs.

The idea for this first fair focusing on rehabilitation came as a result of Nevada's alarming substance-abuse statistics, said Vil Paskevicius, administrator for the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County and a rehabilitation counselor for the board's treatment center. The EOB operates 36 family programs, including a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

The 1996 Health Services Task Force, a national agency that monitors state health issues and distrubutes government funding, ranked Nevada as the second-highest state per capita in alcohol consumption.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 50 percent of all traffic fatalities in Nevada, alcohol plays a role.

"We want people to know recovery is possible," Paskevicius said. "We (the EOB) are here, use us."

The fear and frustration of addiction is familiar to 59-year-old Paskevicius. At age 41 he said he was a functional alcoholic. He maintained a military career for 30 years. Each night he went home and drank a quart of bourbon.

It wasn't until his body began to break down from the constant alcohol consumption that Paskevicius turned to a federally funded rehabilitation program to cure himself of a life-threatening addiction to alcohol.

"I went out and drank one more time," Paskevicius said. "Then I got help."

For three months he worked with counselors and attended rehabilitation programs provided by the government.

"If I had known recovery was possible, I would have gotten help earlier," Paskevicius said. "I wouldn't have wasted all those years, drunk."

Following his recovery 18 years ago he went back to college to earn a degree in educational psychology so that he could counsel those seeking help for their addiction.

"People say you can recover by willpower alone," Paskevicius said. "But if it was only willpower then no one would be overweight or smoke. There is a reason we are here. We are here to help."