Nancy Reagan Attends ‘Just Say No’ Graduation

A year after she left the White House, Nancy Reagan still commanded a celebrity’s welcome Thursday in Simi Valley, where she visited an elementary school to carry on her “Just Say No” campaign against drugs.

While she was in the area, she also checked on the progress of the nearby Reagan Presidential Library.

Many parents, students and local officials wore red, her favorite color, and families clustered in their driveways to watch her three-car entourage arrive at Sycamore Elementary School. Melissa Murray flew an American flag in her front yard across Ravenna Street and stood on her parked motorboat with a video camera.

“Twice! I got to see her twice!” Murray exclaimed to neighbors in the largely Republican, predominantly white suburb of some 100,000 residents. “I’m really glad she came.”

The former First Lady awarded diplomas to 70 graduates of the school’s DARE anti-drug program and received a “Just Say No” quilt from its students.

“I was thrilled that she was here, you know?” bubbled 12-year-old Lisa Marzola after receiving a DARE diploma and shaking Mrs. Reagan’s hand. “I was, like, ‘Oh, my God!’ It was really fun. She’s really nice.”

In the school’s cafeteria, so small that Mrs. Reagan met students in what amounted to two shifts, the former First Lady told the DARE graduates, “I’m so proud of you I could pop.”

The sixth-grade students, dressed identically in black-and-red DARE T-shirts, originally invited Mrs. Reagan to see their hand-drawn quilt last fall, but her schedule did not permit an earlier visit, according to PTA President Jean Lighthart. The quilt was completed during the DARE course.

Under the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, local police officers visit schools and describe to students the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

“I don’t want any of you to have the horrible life drugs create,” Mrs. Reagan told the receptive audience. “I want you to have fun, not fear.

“There’s a wonderful world out there waiting for you. . . . But we need you drug-free.”

After the mock graduation, Mrs. Reagan took a quick tour of the school and returned to the cafeteria for two skits on the dangers of alcohol and peer pressure. This time, the school’s younger students filled the room and Mrs. Reagan, departing from plans to return to the stage, sat on the floor with her fans.

“It’s been a long time since you sat on the floor, hasn’t it?” asked Principal Robert Chall from the podium.

“No, we used to do it every year at the White House,” Mrs. Reagan replied.

“I won’t ask why,” Chall quipped.

“At the Christmas party for the kids,” she said.

Occasionally whispering to nearby pupils, Mrs. Reagan watched both skits intently. She shook her head and murmured “Oh, no,” when beer-drinking drivers were shown being killed in an auto accident. She laughed out loud after the second skit, which portrayed a girl’s realization that she’s been invited to a party only to provide beer.

“No way!” the heroine proclaims.

After the skits, Chall presented Mrs. Reagan with a school sweat shirt and a DARE T-shirt signed by students.

After her hourlong visit, Mrs. Reagan swung by the site of the future Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where she received a progress report on the $43-million structure scheduled for completion next year. The 100-acre site is on unincorporated Ventura County land just west of Simi Valley, near Highway 23 and the Ventura Freeway.

Reporters were not allowed to go along, but a spokeswoman said later that Mrs. Reagan strolled the cactus-dotted parcel in the Santa Susana Mountains and seemed pleased with progress.

Charles Jelloian, director of operations for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, said the four-level building is almost 30% complete. A lower basement that will house a vault and mechanical equipment is near completion, he said. Presidential Drive, the private road that will lead to the library’s entrance, is graded but not yet paved, Jelloian said.

He said the library still is scheduled to open next year in time for the former President’s 80th birthday on Feb. 6.