Growing Camarillo’s 28th Birthday Party Has Small-Town Feel

It was the stuff of a Norman Rockwell painting: Kids perched in tree branches, people standing and covering their hearts when soldiers marched by with an American flag.

The parade that kicked off Camarillo’s 28th birthday celebration served up old-fashioned entertainment as it wound through the heart of the city Saturday. Beauty queens waved to the crowds, baton twirlers dropped their batons and city officials called spectators by name.

“It’s a kid’s parade, that’s for sure,” said Carl Graeber, fixed in a prime spot along the route in his lawn chair with his wife, Jean. Graeber was set for the morning. He had his hat and his sunglasses and turned down his hearing aide when fire engines blared their sirens.

The annual Camarillo Fiesta continues today in Constitution Park with jazz bands, a Cecile Rogers Dance Studio performance, barbecues and other symbols of small-town Americana--all in a town confronted with the specter of rapid growth and change.

Some of the city’s more pressing problems came up at the event’s Mexican breakfast. Residents circulated a petition to block the city’s only hospital from merging with another out of town. Others talked about different development battles brewing around town.

And there was even a graphic example of how the town’s population is growing too fast for some. Alan Kaluhikaua, organizer of the breakfast, underestimated the number of people who would come to the event. At the last moment, he had to run out to buy more eggs. “It really went this year,” Kaluhikaua said.

Whatever Camarillo’s future might hold, fiesta organizer Donna Morgan said the weekend’s event gives residents a chance to show off the best of their city of 56,000. “We have a low crime rate and beautiful weather. We’re really one of the best cities in the area.”

Although the events were carefully planned at weekly meetings throughout the year, not everything was perfectly scripted. At times, the parade announcer shouted out, “Hey, who are you?” to marchers before informing the crowd over the loudspeaker about the groups they were seeing.

One perennial highlight was five white horses, descendants of Sultan, the horse ridden by city founder Adolfo Camarillo. The same horses have come to symbolize Camarillo, marching in parades around the state and appearing on city signs and logos.

Instead of going to his painting job Saturday morning, John Dalzell, a one-year resident of Camarillo, stood along the sidelines waiting for his son, Keith, to march by with other youngsters. “I think this is cool because my kid is in it,” Dalzell said.

Among the child gymnasts and school bands, a haunting POW-MIA float, with a soldier in a cage, created a stir along the parade route.

“That was a trippy float,” said Augie Ponce de Leon of Camarillo. “It kind of bums you out.”

The man in the cage, Raul Caballero of Oxnard, said he thought it was worth shaking up the crowd to deliver the group’s message about American soldiers still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. “If you tell someone about a prisoner of war, it doesn’t quite get there. But if they see a man in a cage, it’s a lot stronger.”

At Constitution Park, a long line formed quickly for the pony rides, face painting and barbecue stands. Impressionist Phil Birdsell entertained the crowd with his imitations of President Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot singing. Mayor Stanley J. Daily, dressed in a Spanish outfit and a wide brimmed hat, helped in the ceremonial cutting of the city’s birthday cake.

“The cake that’s been cut 28 years solid is going to be cut again,” Daily said. Flanked by a crowd of residents snapping pictures, Daily and Sonia Wong, Miss Camarillo 1992, patiently smiled and poised a knife over a white cake.

After the first slice, the two readily re-enacted the routine when a latecomer announced he missed the photo opportunity.

Across the park, several hundred children watched as the Moorpark College animal compound brought out a sea lion, great horned owl, baboon and parrots. When handlers released a 10-foot boa constrictor on the ground, children recoiled into the crowd. A few ran away.

“No matter where I go, I come back here,” said June Krzeminski, a schoolteacher and Camarillo native who has lived overseas. The annual fiesta, she said, “makes you want to stay in Camarillo. You get the feeling that anyone can join in.”