Conejo Valley Parade returns after long absence
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Matt Midura's name.
The Conejo Valley Parade is back after a decade-plus absence.
The parade will travel along Thousand Oaks Boulevard at 9 a.m. Sunday from Duesenberg Drive to Conejo School Road. It’s expected to last two hours.
The Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise and Fargo’s Angels, led by Thousand Oaks resident Wendy MacLeod, are organizing the event.
The parade last took place in 2011, MacLeod said. She felt determined to bring back the parade and contacted the Rotary Club to work with her.
Matt Midura, the Rotary Club president, said the theme of “Good Old Days” is being reflected in vintage cars and trucks and the presence of past grand marshals and past Miss Conejo Valley Days winners.
The parade was run for 30 years by the Kiwanis Club of Thousand Oaks, he said. The first parade was in 1949.
The Rotary Club hopes to raise more than $10,000 for local nonprofits through parade sponsorships and partnerships, Midura said.
The parade will begin with a riderless horse to honor Brett Taylor, MacLeod said. The 66-year-old, who was found dead in March in his Thousand Oaks home, was nicknamed “Brother Brett” by the first responder ranks where he volunteered for decades.
Taylor is being honored posthumously as the parade’s grand marshal, MacLeod said. The Condor Squadron from Van Nuys will fly over the route at 9 a.m. with a missing man formation in honor of Taylor.
The parade will also feature some celebrities, including “CHiPs” actors Larry Wilcox and Robert Pine, MacLeod said. The 1977-1983 NBC drama, which also starred Erik Estrada, was filmed on Highway 118 in Simi Valley.
Other entries will include the police car from NBC’s 1968-75 “Adam-12” series, said Randy Strong, Rotary Club treasurer and past president. Candy Clark, a Thousand Oaks resident who acted in director George Lucas’ 1973 film “American Graffiti,” will also take part, he said.
The parade will salute Jungleland USA, the historic Thousand Oaks private zoo, animal training facility and animal theme park, MacLeod said. The event will feature an actress playing lion trainer Mabel Stark.
The Meadow Arts and Technology Elementary School marching band is also among participants.
For more about the parade, go to conejovalleyparade.org.
Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Conejo Valley Parade returns to Thousand Oaks after long absence
