Our new slogan for Riverfest would be, "Riverfest: It’s Not Just Music." Having covered the Memorial Day weekend event as an entertainment writer for the previous eight years, before sports beckoned again, I can also say: It’s also not just screamin’ kids, dipping dots and face painting, and lining up for wrist bands and "river money" to buy your beer and internationally flavored eats, though that’s a lot of it too.
It’s also a sporting venue this year, as the Super Retriever Series brings its super jumping dog events, the Super Fly and Super V - the Olympic long jump and high jump for dogs, as it were - to the North Shore Riverwalk Park side of Riverfest this weekend.
Up the road just outside of Mayflower on Highway 89, the Retriever Crown Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday. As soon as a champion is determined, between 11 a.m. and noon, everyone will then tear out for North Little Rock again for the finals in the Super jumping divisions, starting at 12:30 p.m., as well as a Guinness World Record attempt at the most children blowing a duck call at one time.
With 3,000 duck calls boxed and ready to hand out, the organizers plan to beat the existing record by 2,700. Kids can participate by filling out a form at SuperRetrieverSeries.com/CallinTheRock/ for their free pass, then arriving Sunday at the Harvest Foods gate of Riverfest, picking up their Zink duck call and being on hand by 3 p.m. on the North Little Rock side in front of the Budweiser (read: the rock stage) for the big moment, being dubbed "Callin’ the Rock."
Most of the dog activities will be taped for rebroadcast on the Versus network in late June as the culmination of the championship sporting dog series. Dogs and their owners have been competing at 12 sites to finally arrive in Central Arkansas for a title.

arkansasbusiness.com

Travel by: Through summer
Summer is synonymous with vacation, and with the unofficial start of the season coming this Memorial Day weekend, now’s the time to start booking flights to your favorite sun-filled destinations. While rising fuel costs have led to a slew of fare hikes — and a shortage of good fare sales — we’ve still managed to dig up a few gems that will get you to popular U.S. cities, great Mexico beaches and even some European hotspots with money to spare for hotel once you get there.
$29+: Short jaunt domestic flights on Southwest (one-way)
Leave traffic jams and pricey pumps on the ground and take to the skies with Southwest Airlines’ rock-bottom $29 one-way fares. Fly intrastate on routes like Tampa to Jacksonville, or take off on longer jaunts like those between Spokane and Boise. These low fares are applicable for travel to/from more than 15 cities in 10 states, and can be booked for travel through October 30. A 21-day advance purchase is required.
$56+: Huge AirTran sale to top U.S. destinations (one-way)
AirTran Airways has just announced a major fare sale, slashing prices on travel to dozens of U.S. cities to as low as $56 one-way, when booking through Expedia. Jet off to San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and many more top U.S. destinations for travel during the peak summer travel period, right through November 5. Just hurry — this sale expires as soon as May 15.
$173+: Florida beach fares on major airlines (round-trip)
Florida is the ultimate warm-weather destination for a carefree fun-in-the-sun vacation, and now getting there won’t break the bank with Expedia’s discounted Florida fares. Book inexpensive round-trip tickets from just $173 for travel to Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale or Ft. Myers via cities like Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.

msnbc.msn.com

Two of Cleveland's more enterprising bands have enlisted sponsorship services of Budweiser and Vitamin Water to promote their upcoming tour that's co-sponsored by Jib Machine Records, Scrub Radio and Gillespie's Map Room, the Warehouse District bar that Jib Machine Records essentially calls home. Boisterous veteran punk rockers Hostile Omish and Hot Ham & Cheese, both acts on Jib Machine, are heading out on what they're calling the "Churn N Burn Tour 08." The Omish are still promoting last year's As the World Churns and Hot Ham & Cheese have just issued Revolution & Revelations, a 12-song collection of aggressive rock tunes. The tour kicks off with a show at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 24 at the Garage Bar (1859 W. 25th St., 216.696.7772) and then takes the bands out as far west as Los Angeles and Sacramento, hitting Indianapolis, Wichita, Phoenix and Las Vegas on the way there. The Las Vegas show will be streamed live on Scrub Radio (scrubradio.com) on Tuesday, April 29 with Regi & DJ Toe-Tag hosting the remote broadcast. Fans can also log on to the Free Times Web site for daily tour info and updates via Regi's daily blog. Tickets to the Garage show are $3; for more information, go to jibmachinerecords.com. - Jeff Niesel
Take Me Out to the Rock Hall
Just in time for the major league season, the Rock Hall opens an exhibit that celebrates baseball through sheet music (the music for 1908's "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is one of the artifacts), sports memorabilia and film. Starting Saturday, April 26, you can find listening stations dedicated to early recordings of baseball-associated songs such as Teresa Brewer's Mickey Mantle tribute "I Love Mickey" as well as musical tributes to Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Larry Doby. The exhibit includes film clips of Tribe players Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner discussing why they chose the songs that represent them when they come up to bat. An exegesis on the best closer song of all time (take your pick from Metallica's "Enter Sandman" to AC/DC's "Hell's Bells," the latter of which has made Padres' closer Trevor Hoffman's entrance a dramatic affair for years) would not be out of order here, either. For more information, go to rockhall.com. - JN

freetimes.com