Kids as Stars : Children’s Parade Kicks Off Conejo Festival

For 7-year-old Casey Sullivan, Saturday was the only day of the year he could call his mom a cow and get away with it.

*

Shari Sullivan held nothing back for the annual children’s parade in Thousand Oaks, donning a full-body cow costume so her two children--dressed as cowboy and cowgirl--had something to throw their ropes around.

“We’ll let them get away with this today,” Sullivan said cheerfully as she straightened her udder. “This is really a kids’ day.”

The children were the stars as they marched down a half-mile parade route along Auto Mall Drive for the annual Conejo Valley Days children’s parade Saturday morning.

About 300 children, aged 14 and under, came from Thousand Oaks and surrounding areas for the festive affair, which was the first major event of the two-week Conejo Valley Days festival that runs through the end of the month.

Conejo Valley Days officials praised the children and their parents for such a strong turnout, and for bringing along a host of elaborate floats and ornate costumes.

Among the most unusual of the 30 entries were two children who scampered down the parade route tucked into giant cardboard cowboy boots, a mother who wrapped her baby and carriage in a large paper tepee, and a cart with three girls in glittery western wear being pulled by a miniature horse.

“People really went all out,” said JoAnn Malter, who organized the parade for Conejo Valley Days. “It shows us just how strong the spirit is out here that these people would go through all this effort for an event like this.”

The three men judging the various entries sat at the end of the route smiling almost continuously as all of the participants filed by their table. Even the simple entries, such as a young boy dressed as a cowboy who walked the route alone, earned the applause of the spectators.

The judges said they had a difficult time picking out the best entries because of the great variety and creativity displayed by all of the entries.

“I look for the kids who are the most enthusiastic and show the most personality,” explained judge George Conahey, a volunteer from the local Optimist Club. “This is the second year I’ve done this, and it’s always tough to pick some over others. I’ve seen a lot of great kids out here.”

In addition to the 300 children in the parade, more than 100 spectators sat curbside cheering on their relatives and scanning the scene with video cameras. The crowd was joined by street vendors selling balloons and a clown who held the attention of of the youngest spectators during various lulls in the parade.

At least one young couple came to watch the parade even though they had no children participating.

Larry and Teresa Garner watched with considerable interest as the children streamed by in front of them because Teresa is pregnant with their first child.

“We love coming out to parades, but we were especially compelled to come out now,” Larry Garner said. “We’ve got kids on the brain right now.”

The Garners watched as the Conejo Cowpokes, a spinoff of last year’s Conejo Cowgirls, marched down the parade route chanting the Conejo Valley Days theme of “Boots, buckles and bandannas.”

Another group, sixth-graders from Weathersfield School in Thousand Oaks, were dressed in green and carried large plastic globes as they marched with the message, “Earth day, earth day, what do you say. Make every day earth day, starting today.”

The inclusion of so many children’s groups, Malter said, showed that Conejo Valley Days officials were succeeding in making the festival more appealing to families.

The teacher who brought the 16 sixth-graders from Weathersfield School said she thought the organizers would accomplish the goal of appealing more to families.

“I think it is really important that they have incorporated activities for the kids into Conejo Valley Days,” teacher Sherrill Hyink said. “Conejo Valley Days shouldn’t be just for the adults.”

Festival organizer Jennifer Cummings said she believes the rest of the events will follow the example of Saturday’s parade.

“I think what this shows is that Conejo Valley Days is really a family oriented festival,” Cummings said.

The major Conejo Valley Days event is the five-day carnival scheduled from April 27 to May 1 at Conejo Creek Park, at the Moorpark Freeway and Janss Road.