Having been a resident of Thousand Oaks for 36 years, small things have been milestones where our families live. These milestones include the Conejo Valley Days Parade and CVD. The parade was an opportunity for youth groups, equestrians, bands, car clubs, square dancers and many other exhibitors to strut their stuff.

CVD was the chance to meet up with old friends, support many nonprofits by eating different foods and playing games of chance. Wasn't it fun watching first your kids and then, years later, your grandchildren experiencing their first pony ride or one of the gently whirling cars or planes? And let us not forget the old-fashioned merry-go-round.

Traditions and memories are wonderful things to hold on to. They don't cost a lot and are fun to look back on. Well, folks, those days are gone forever, and if you believe they will bring it back next year, you should be thinking not if they can help it!

It disappeared this year without very much hullabaloo, so why would anyone think that there are residents out there that actually care? I care that the old traditions are going away and not being replaced—unless you say that the new traditions will be Nordstrom, a high-end movie complex and The Lakes, which, though we thought was good, the results for retailers and the community are disastrous.

In this economy who can afford any of those places? Oh wait, I forgot that we are a highend community that hasn't been touched one way or another by the recession. Now is the time for all of us who believe in traditions to step up to the plate and bring things back in perspective.

Maybe with enough of a hue and cry, we'll be able to bring back the parade and CVD. I can't do it alone. It's going to have to be a group effort. What's that old expression? "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water."

Keep some of the old, incorporate some of the new, and let's become again a community that cares. Barbara Kloster Thousand Oaks