Legends of the West Bike & Car Fest comes into town

The rumble of motorcycle engines from 250cc to more than 900cc, and classic auto engines from 4-cylinder to giant V10s will be heard throughout the streets of downtown Carson City this weekend, said Maxine Nietz, of the Arlington Group.

The capital city's newest event, sponsored by the Downtown Business Association, is Legends of the West Bike & Car Fest. It starts Friday night, and promises to be much more than a venue for gleaming cars and bikes. It also will give Carson City a chance to shine.

"We want to bring attention to Carson City by bringing in a different group of people to the downtown who don't usually come here. That's part of the DBA's mission," she said.

For Lenny Chappell, DBA president, the hope is to see the event grow so that proceeds can benefit the community.

"We really wanted to do this to bring more opportunities to our downtown businesses, something on a larger scale than just the wine walk," Chappell said.

"We'd like to use the money to benefit entities that won't be getting redevelopment money anymore. The first year of any event, you usually just break even, but we'd like to make it grow over the next couple of years," he said. "That's kind of the dream."

The Fest is planned as a spin-off from the Street Vibrations Spring Rally in Sparks this weekend, Nietz said. Carson Street will be closed from William to Fifth streets so that all the bikes and cars can be viewed by the public. Traffic will be detoured onto Stewart Street.

"We're using our local clubs as the core of this event," she said, "like the Karson Kruzers, Union Rodders, Leftovers and Freaks of Nature, but we've reached out to our motorcycle groups too."

The Arlington Square across Carson Street from the Carson Nugget Casino will play a big part in the action, she said, with a Vendor Village, stage for the Miss Legends competition, live entertainment, gunfighter performances and food booths.

Other highlights of the weekend include a Saturday Sheriff's motorcycle agility presentation, cruise parades, treasure hunt, wine walk and Elks' Club breakfasts.

"The wine walk will introduce people to our downtown merchants, but for those who don't drink, there will be a treasure hunt for families to show a couple of historic places," Nietz said. "We want this to be a good experience for everyone."

Preacher Tony Grasso, who makes custom motorcycles, will be one of the vendors at the weekend event. He will also conduct a Blessing of the Bikes and Hot Rods Sunday at his Last Harvest Church at 160 E. Long St. at noon, following the Sunday service. For more information, call Grasso at 775-445-0508.

The weekend kicks off Friday with registration. Kids ages 5 to 15 can enter the Special Interest category with bikes, pedal cars, and wagons for free - just bring a can of food for the Friends In Service Helping Food Bank.

For more information, go to www.

eventsnevada.com/legends.html.