A Salute to Angels Gate, Military History : Outings: The two-day gala features open houses by park groups and re-enactments of war eras.

If you happen to be driving by Angels Gate Park in San Pedro this weekend and you see a bunch of guys carrying muskets and wearing Revolutionary War uniforms, and perhaps even firing off old cannons, don’t worry--you haven’t wandered into a time warp.

Instead, you’ll be seeing a small part of “Old Fort MacArthur Days and Angels Gate Park Open House,” an event celebrating both the park and military history through the centuries.

“This is our one major fund-raising event each year,” said Sam Stokes, president of the Fort MacArthur Military Museum Assn. “It’s also a chance for many of these ‘re-enactment groups’ from throughout Southern California to get together.”

The two-day event begins on Saturday, when the many organizations that call Angels Gate Park home will throw open their doors and invite the public in for a look.

For example, the Marine Exchange, which acts as a “control tower” for the Port of Los Angeles, will offer tours to show the public how it tracks all the ships heading for the port. This will be the first time the facility has been open to the public.

On a smaller scale, the Belmont Shore Railroad Club, a group of model-railroaders who have constructed a vast “N-scale” railroad system in their clubhouse in an old barracks, will host an open house to show off their miniature railroad world.

Also, two groups of quilters--the San Pedro Quilters and the Angels Gate Quilters--will display their lovingly stitched “sea scape” quilts. The Angels Gate Cultural Center will have an art show, Hostelling International will offer information on the joys of hostel-to-hostel travel, and the Izaak Walton League of America will have an exhibit on hunting, fishing and conservation and safety.

But the most visually striking activity at the park will come on Sunday, when groups from throughout Southern California will don military uniforms and regalia from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to the Spanish-American War to World War II and give demonstrations of what military life in those days was like.

According to Stokes, groups expected to attend include the “33rd Regiment of Foot” from West Hollywood and the “Delaware Regiment,” both of which re-enact the Revolutionary War era; “Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery,” a Civil War re-enactment group from Artesia; “Co. I of the 7th Memorial Cavalry” from Thousand Oaks, which will be wearing uniforms and equipment from the Indian Wars; the “U.S. Navy Landing Group,” which will re-create the Spanish-American War era; the “California Historical Group, WW II Living History Assn.,” an Anaheim-based World War II re-enactment group, and others.

Stokes said some of the groups will set up camp at the park on Saturday and stay overnight. On Sunday, all of the groups will perform drills and other soldierly activities. At 1 p.m. Sunday there will be an artillery show in which cannon and artillery from olden days will be fired--using blanks, of course.

Although it’s not certain yet what types of ordnance will be there this year, Stokes said in past years there have been firings of a three-inch naval assault gun, an old Gatling gun, a Civil War-era “Napoleon 12-pounder” and Revolutionary War-era mortars, among others.

When: Angles Gate Park Open House is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Old Fort MacArthur Days is Sunday from 9 a.m. to sunset. Artillery show starts at 1 p.m.

Where: Angels Gate Park, near Pt. Fermin in San Pedro. Entrance at 36th and Gaffey streets.

Admission: Cost for artillery show is $3 per person, proceeds going to the Fort MacArthur Military Museum Assn.

Information: Angels Gate Park at (310) 548-7705.