Chimes will ring from Laxalt Building

"Home Means Nevada" will ring from the Paul Laxalt State Building before the Nevada Day parade starts Saturday.

In less than four weeks, the group heading the Clock Chimes Project has collected the $11,000 needed to give the old clock a voice.

Bill and Dottie Kelley, who fostered the chime project, said they were pleased with the way the community rallied around the project

"They're going to ring out on Saturday," Dottie Kelley said. "We've worked hard, and we're thrilled, absolutely thrilled."

The electronic chimes are in a state of temporary installation, awaiting their test run today from a window in the Laxalt Building, clock repairman Bill Hartman said.

There were doubts that the project would be able to raise the money by Nevada Day .

"The community can all be proud of this," Dottie Kelley said. "I was confident the whole time. Bill and I never had a doubt we would do it. We're proud of everybody who gave to the project."

Mayor Ray Masayko said he too was thrilled that the state song would chime from the old building for Nevada Day.

"I'm more thrilled about the response from the community," Masayko said. "You have to give credit to the Kelleys for this one. I was hopeful, but I didn't really think they'd have the money raised by Nevada Day."

Hartman said the permanent installation is waiting for the area where the speakers will be fastened to be cleaned. The chimes will ring Saturday from a window in the Laxalt building, he said, but after that it will be another two weeks before the chimes are ready to go.

The plan is to gong the hour Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and to run the Westminster Chimes of Big Ben every 15 minutes on the weekends during daylight hours. The chimes play around 100 songs covering most religious and patriotic holidays, but more tunes can be added.

"It's a gift of song for the entire community, and there's something there for everyone," Dottie Kelley said.