EVENDALE — Some Cincinnatians consider July 4th activities just a warmup for St. Rita Fest.

IF YOU GO

What: St. Rita Fest    When: 4 p.m.-midnight today    1-10 p.m. Sunday    Where: At the school, 1720 Glendale-Milford Road.    Shuttle: A free shuttle bus will take people from area parking lots to the festival grounds at the school.    Information: 771-7600.

        The annual fair, in its 85th year, benefits St. Rita School for the Deaf. The event, which continues today and Sunday, draws people from all over the Tristate. Some come for the food, some for the games and rides, and others because for them the festival is an essential rite of summer.

        It's also an essential activity for the school, which depends on festival proceeds to support its operations. Last year's event raised more than $245,000.

        “It costs over $10,000 a year to attend St. Rita School for the Deaf,” said Angela Frith, a school spokeswoman. “It costs over $17,000 to live on campus. The money raised at St. Rita Fest helps to defray the cost of tuition for families. Ninety-nine percent of our families receive tuition assistance.”

        The school draws students from other states and countries, as well as the Tristate.
       

Children's Hospital to keep booming
Owner takes blame for mishap
Postal Service can't deliver new facility for Bond Hill
Bad year for raise, UC faculty advised
Fuller's funds lag Luken's
It's St. Rita Fest weekend
Jobs initiative failed 1,000, organizers say
Metro sprawl above average
Officers trained on traffic stops
Pleasant Ridge tower dismantled
Police to confer on sprayings
Sparks fly over Norwood station
Thief's day of wine and roasts
Tristate A.M. Report
Volunteer patrol on uneasy street
Center gets funds from United Way
Edgewood coach converted dream to fieldhouse
HOWARD: Neighborhoods
MCNUTT: Ultramarathon
Airships' future beyond ads
Program to help Appalachia
Taft plans 'energy summit' for Ohio
All shelter records sought
Cincy-Louisville route still quirky
Former governor's ecampus.com sold
Immunizations being delayed
Kentucky News Briefs
Western Ky. devours phone numbers