Donny played timpani and xylophone, while Lana played flute in addition to piccolo. And, no doubt, Lana will be there in spirit.Īnthony LaBounty, the university’s associate director of bands, directs Brittany today and remembers well when her parents were band members. The trio will ride in the homecoming parade and be recognized at halftime during the football game. Now the Thompsons, including Brittany’s father Donny, ’90 BA Music, and 16-year-old brother Ryan, who plays the clarinet in the band at Arbor View High School, will be honored during this year’s homecoming festivities as the 2015 Honorary Rebel Family. Cost is $20 per car, but keep your eye out for discounts offered by the sponsors.When Brittany Thompson picks up her piccolo to play in the UNLV Symphonic Wind Ensemble, it’s the same piccolo her mother played in that same group in the late ’80s. Brittany always has enjoyed knowing that her instrument is a family heirloom, but that connection took on a deeper meaning last year when her mother, Lana Slater Thompson, ’96 BA Education, ’01 Master of Education, died unexpectedly in her sleep from natural causes at the age of 45.īrittany, a 21-year-old psychology major, said though it was tempting to take a break to deal with her grief, she knew her mother would want her to continue her studies - especially at UNLV, which has played such an important role in the life of the Thompson family. It’s pretty easy to find - just follow the line of traffic snaking in from the freeway. Continue about half a mile and turn right into the entrance to the show. More information about special events is online here.Īlthough visitors can use Las Vegas Boulevard to reach the Speedway, the simplest way to attend Glittering Lights is to use I-15, get off at exit 54, and then turn right onto Speedway Boulevard. If you like candy, you might consider “B Sweet” night on December 4th. On several nights, local sponsors are providing goody bags or other prizes to the first 200 cars that enter. Participants go through the course on foot – in their pajamas. Several special events take place at Glittering Lights, including the PJ run/walk on November 22nd. Since 1999, the charity has distributed $1.7 million in funding to children’s organizations in Southern Nevada. Glittering Lights donates a portion of every ticket to the Speedway Children’s Charity, Las Vegas chapter. All kinds of whimsical creatures and objects are created with LED bulbs This is also the area sponsored by Clear Channel Outdoor, with some of the most beautiful arrays of colored lights on the tour.īeginning on December 4th, a “living nativity” scene sponsored by the United Methodist Church will be in operation near the end of the course. If you’re lucky, you might see fighter jets take off and land at Nellis Air Force Base to the southwest. Other displays feature animated race cars, holiday vignettes, and the names of sponsoring businesses.Īs you make the turn back to the east and parallel Las Vegas Boulevard, you’ll drive through a tunnel of LED-lights that twinkle and change color. In the background, a panoramic view of the valley and the Strip adds to the brilliance. The display here includes a twinkling replica of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, a dancing Elvis, and other Vegas icons. The course heads outside and climbs the hill near the Speedway’s first turn. Avenue of trees looking towards the racing cars While you’re enjoying the displays sponsored by local businesses like the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Shark Reef Aquarium, and Cashman Cat, you can tune your radio to a station that plays holiday music, but you’ll probably still hear the roar of race cars on the tracks nearby. First, you drive under the Speedway grandstands, a part of the track most people see only if they have special passes on race days. More than three million lights crafted into animated displays and twinkling tunnels line the two-and-a-half-mile course. For the last fifteen years, a legion of volunteers, with the support of local businesses and charities, has been providing that extra holiday dazzle with Glittering Lights, a drive-through display that has gotten so large and popular that it has moved out to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from its original location at Sunset Park. It’s only appropriate that the city of neon should light up even more at Christmastime. Las Vegas sparkles so brightly every day of the year that astronauts look for it from outer space. Just one of the many crowd pleasers in this year’s show
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