CVD results still not in, but organizers hopeful for profit

FARM GIRL FOR A DAY AT CVD- Forget bumper cars or painted horses on the carousel. Sarah Berg, 3, of Thousand Oaks, left, ran straight to her favorite ride- the real ponies. She smiled at her father, Russell Berg, and grandfather, John Mrak, as she passed by. Then it was on to feeding baby goats in the petting zoo where signs she couldn't read warned against putting fingers in the animal's mouths. She's a third-generation Conejo Valley Days enthusiast. If organizers have their way, she'll be coming to the event with her children and grandchildren someday. Conejo Valley Days organizers still don't know attendance numbers or whether they made a profit this year, but event chair Marty Campbell said she's cautiously optimistic.

A month after the event she's still trying to find out how many people came to the 52nd annual Conejo Valley Days, which included the car show and kickoff picnic on April 19, a grand marshal race, a parade and the carnival at Conejo Creek Park South that closed May 4.

The grand marshal race brought in $21,000 for local charities.

DAVID NEEDHAM/Special to the Acorn The parade was well attended as families lined up along Thousand Oaks Boulevard to see actor Chad Everett, the celebrity grand marshal, along with school children, clubs, clowns, horses, classic cars and many other parade entries.

"There was a big turnout of people, a large number of participants and a big variety of groups involved," parade coordinator Joana Smith said.

She said she's already looking forward to the parade next year and hopes the traditional participants as well as the groups that joined in for the first time this year will stay involved.

The Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Club organizes the annual parade and estimates the number of spectators this year to be around 15,000. But Smith said it wasn't just that there were lots of people that made the parade a success.

"The people who came to the parade were full of spirit. They were clapping, cheering and singing along," Smith said.

She liked seeing the Chinese culture of the community represented and hopes to see more people who reflect the culture of the city there next year, Smith said.

Campbell said she hopes that there will be a Conejo Valley Days event again next year and that the Conejo Valley Activities Corporation (CVAC), the nonprofit group of volunteers that oversees the event, made a profit. They began this year in the red, unsure if the community event would take place.

"It was difficult this year not knowing if we were going to have Conejo Valley Days or not. We had to go around and beg for money," Campbell said.

The Thousand Oaks City Council and Conejo Recreation and Park District each gave CVD organizers $15,000 for seed money this year so the family tradition could continue.

Local nonprofit groups that helped sell tickets or ran booths inside the event made money for their individual organizations. That money isn't included in the totals the CVAC considers a profit.

CVAC pays for tents, police, carnival rides, entertainment and other essentials. Bills for some items, including police, haven't arrived yet, so Campbell won't know for sure if the event made a profit until every entity is paid, which could take a couple more months, she said.

One reason Campbell isn't sure how many people attended is that some admission tickets were sold through school boosters and those counts aren't in yet, she said. The booster clubs also sold wrist bands for carnival rides. The money made on those benefits the schools.

Attendance last year was up 25 percent, and organizers hoped to stay at that level, even with the Amgen and Countrywide layoffs, Campbell said.

The park was full the nights former Monkee Mickey Dolenz and the Grassroots rock band performed, she said.

"People were coming from all over the state and stayed in hotels in Thousand Oaks to attend those concerts," Campbell said.

Some of the out-of-towners were surprised there wasn't an extra fee to attend the concerts, she said. CVD only charged admission through the entry gates for those attending the concerts, dog performances and other events that were presented in the arena.

Another big hit was the area separated for smaller children which had a petting zoo, pony rides and smaller carnival rides. The community tent made its debut this year, and Campbell said she hopes to improve on it next year by expanding participation by local artists.