Reagan Gets Piece of the Wall : Simi Valley: The former President unveils a huge chunk of Cold War history at his library.

Folks, you may have caught the act during its long-running engagement, 28 years in Berlin, and now it’s here, in Ventura County.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s say “Ich bin ein Venturer,” and give a big Simi Valley welcome to a big performer: the concrete you love to hate--the Berlin Wall!

Thursday, in a sunny outdoor ceremony that blended patriotism and razzmatazz--a German oompah band direct from San Diego and Mel Torme singing the national anthem--a 9 1/2-foot-high section of the Berlin Wall was unveiled at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where the workmen wear caps that read “Building One for the Gipper.”

It’s too big for a coffee table and too small to restrain any freedom-loving person in Simi Valley, let alone East Berlin. But it will fit right into the archives, ephemera and landmarks of the Reagan presidency.

Not quite three years ago, Reagan visited West Berlin and, in front of the Brandenburg Gate, demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” On Thursday, Reagan, dwarfed by the 6,338-pound piece, said his 1987 phrasemaking “wasn’t merely a polite suggestion.”

The donated section is one of only seven complete wall panels in the United States. Such intact sections sell for from $60,000 for a plain one to $125,000 for elaborately painted or graffiti-covered specimens.

This one, more pristine than the stretches of the wall with the most graffiti, shows only a red butterfly hovering above flowers on a blue-green background, artwork that “obviously couldn’t be more than a year old,” said Joseph Sciamarelli, president of the Berlin Wall Commemorative Group, the exclusive U.S. distributor of the wall pieces.

“I actually offered the President a gray section . . . for a specific reason originally--that the wall should be perceived as a wall rather than as art,” but they specifically requested a painted portion, Sciamarelli said.

The Reagan library “originally contacted the government of East Germany and asked how they could secure a section of the wall for the library,” Sciamarelli said. He and his group decided they “didn’t want Ronald Reagan to have to make a purchase of the wall, with his commitment and what he had done.” So with fast-food magnate Carl Karcher to help with the buying and shipping costs, the wall came West, gratis.

“It’s very positive for the President to have a section of the Berlin Wall,” Sciamarelli said. And, from strictly a business point of view, it’s good public relations to “let people know the wall is available and it is an item that is for sale.”

For the 1,000-plus invited local residents, Thursday’s unveiling afforded not only a look at Reagan and the wall, but also the first chance to see what had been going on at the hilltop library building site.

Eugene Gallick, an artist and a volunteer at a Moorpark senior citizens center, hiked up the hill about 7:30 a.m. to get a long look at the place before security moved him back. Gallick creates his art from “disposable things,” and when the library is finished he plans to check out the leftover debris for his artwork.

Take the wall, he pointed out. “This piece of trivia suddenly becomes very valuable . . . a discard of our culture all of a sudden in a prestigious setting.”

Casually prestigious, perhaps. Nancy Reagan hoisted a yellow and orange paper sun parasol that wouldn’t stay open and once threatened to collapse around her head.

The accordionist with the Bavarian Beer Garden band wore shades with his lederhosen . The UCLA band blared out favorites such as the theme from “Hawaii Five-O,” and a Marine in the color guard muttered, “I could use a beer right now.”

The 38-minute ceremony, emceed by Johnny Grant, the so-called “Mayor of Hollywood,” began with members of the UCLA marching band playing the movie fanfare from 20th-Century Fox to welcome Reagan, a former Warner Bros. star. Also present were officials from East and West Germany, and a young woman who escaped from East Germany before the wall was brought down.

The former President’s own remarks were classic “easy listening” Reagan, stirring oratory now free of the political constraints of policy-making:

“We accept it with solemn remembrances of the past and the resolution of what happened must never happen again . . . Let our children and grandchildren come here and see this wall and reflect on what it meant to history. Let them understand that only vigilance and strength will deter tyranny.”

Tyranny was certainly on Ray Mulokas’ mind. The Lithuanian-American, his wife, daughter and a friend wore black crepe-paper armbands to the unveiling.

“We weren’t here to demonstrate, not to take away the good done by Ronald Reagan,” he said. “But I think maybe we’re getting a little duped with all the fancy-speaking Russians. . . . We hope we can celebrate with the East Germans one day.”

For Simi Valley student Jason Oliver, 15, one of the designated escorts who got “ this close” to Reagan, it was on-the-job training for how to act when he is President. He said he has dedicated himself to that goal “since I was 6 years old. That’s been my life, except for, like, going to Disneyland.”

More than an hour before the unveiling, the base of Presidential Way in Simi Valley was tangled in a crowd of tour buses loaded with people hoping to be part of the event.

Students on vacation and politicians gathered at the half-completed library that commands a view of the Tierra Rejada Valley.

“Not too many areas have a piece of the Berlin Wall,” said Brad Schield, 23, a senior at Cal State Chico who was on spring break. “It’s kind of neat to have it in this area.”

He and classmate Melody Loerke, 20, said they had given up a day of vacation to see the wall. Dressed in shorts and T-shirts, the two stood out from the well-dressed audience and Secret Service men.

Schield, a former Westlake resident, said his grandfather owns a small piece of the Berlin Wall, but that it looks no different from a rock.

“This is better,” he said.

It was a carnival-like scene as the crowd sipped at paper cups full of soda. Some sat on lawn chairs on a hill overlooking the stage where the slab of wall was unveiled. Most carried small flags that rippled in the breeze.

The midday heat drove some to carry parasols and Panama hats, including Simi Valley Councilwoman Vicky Howard, who a donned one of the “Building One for the Gipper” caps honoring the former President.

Two years ago, Howard had visited the Berlin Wall and took pictures of it during a tour of Eastern Europe.

“To see East and West coming together in, of all places, Simi Valley, well, I find it incredible,” said Howard, a Republican who voted twice for Reagan. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat. It’s historic.”

Brendan Hooley, 13, said he and 13 members of Simi Valley Boy Scout Troop 618 turned out in uniform for the special event.

“We’re here because we might become the color guards for the Reagan library, and we didn’t have anything else to do,” Brendan said.

Brendan said he became especially interested in seeing what will be in the Reagan library after he visited the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa.

“If this is anywhere near as good as the Herbert Hoover library, this is going to be really nice,” he said.