Family Fun

A wide range of activities for families will be available this Memorial Day weekend including the Desert Chorale's 10th annual Memorial Day concert and the eighth annual Gasoline Alley's Birthday Bash to benefit the Lili Claire Foundation.

The Desert Chorale's Memorial Day concert is at 7:30 p.m. today at Artemus Ham Hall on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. Admission is free.

The nonprofit organization's concert will feature its 65-member chorus with guest performances by the Stardust Barbershop Quartet and the Nevada Symphonic Wind Ensemble directed by Richard McGee, chairman of the Community College of Southern Nevada's performing arts department. The event also will feature the Nellis Air Force Base Honor Guard, local ROTC units and a candlelight tribute honoring Nevadans who have died in the current war.

George Dunaway, a 2nd sergeant major in the Army, will be this year's honoree, and Chaplain Ray Guinta, who led ministry teams assisting rescue and recovery workers at the World Trade Center site after Sept. 11, 2001, will be a special guest.

On Saturday, Gasoline Alley's Birthday Bash car show, a two-day event, begins as part of the Cannery's Summer of Fun Festival from 4 to 10 p.m.

The festival will feature live music from Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Friends of Distinction, Gary Lewis & the Playboys and local band GoodFellas, along with vendors featuring American Indian jewelry, rock 'n' roll memorabilia and more.

On Sunday, the car show moves to North Las Vegas' Eldorado Park, 5900 Camino Eldorado, where it also will feature entertainment and children's activities including science demonstrations, treasure hunts, karate demonstrations, gymnastics exhibitions, monster truck displays, clowns and more from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On-site registration for the car show will be available Saturday and Sunday for $30.

More than 400 vehicles are expected to participate in this year's car show, according to Mike Kinney, who started the event on a much smaller scale.

"The first year was in front of my house with seven cars," Kinney says. "The next year we got permission from the city to shut down the street."

This year, Kinney's birthday will fall on Sunday, and he is looking forward to celebrating with "hundreds of hot rods and thousands of new friends. I couldn't have a better birthday."

This year, cars will be coming from Mesa, Ariz., Burbank, Calif., and Ogden, Utah, to participate in the event that has raised more than $80,000 for children's charities, Kinney says.

Admission is free to Gasoline Alley's Birthday Bash. For more information, call 371-7469.

Tickets to the Summer of Fun Festival at the Cannery, 2121 E. Craig Road, are also free and can be picked up at the Cannery's ticket sales counter. For more information, call 507-5900.

Other events this weekend include:

• The City of Henderson, Triathlon Pictures and Milestone Entertainment present "Hollywood at the Pavilion," a family movie event featuring live entertainment, children's activities, vendors, food and a screening of the film "The Goonies" on a 40-foot screen at 8 p.m. at the Henderson Pavilion, 200 S. Green Valley Parkway. Gates open at 5 p.m. today. Admission is free. For more information, call 267-4849.

• The City of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services presents a Summer Kick-off and Safety Fair from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Carlos L. Martinez and Darrio J. Hall Family Pool at Freedom Park, 889 N. Pecos Road.

The event will feature open swimming, a water slide, organized games, information on summer safety and pool rescue techniques. Admission is $3, and all participants must wear a swimsuit, no street clothes, cut-offs, jean shorts or cotton material will be allowed in the pool. Pieces of cake to celebrate the facility's one-year anniversary will be passed out to participants when exiting the event, while supplies last. For more information, call 229-6309.

• The 19th annual Snow Mountain Pow Wow will feature American Indian jewelry, pottery, baskets, food, traditional music, a dance contest, drum contest, bird singing and dancing celebration and more. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday on the Las Vegas Paiute Snow Mountain Indian Reservation, N. U.S. Highway 95 off Exit 95. The grand entries will be at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $5, ages 10 and under are free, and a weekend pass is $7. For more information, call 395-1790

• Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North, hosts the Las Vegas Family and Kids Expo featuring carnival booths, a bounce house, rock climbing, barbecue and live music from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $5, children under 14 are free. An all-day pass for carnival rides is $20. For more information, call 361-8154.