Local Shoppers and Fun Seekers Savor the Last Gasp of Summer : Labor Day: Sales draw residents to malls in search of fall wardrobes. Teachers get a head start on planning their classes.

Labor Day sales, back-to-school shopping and a last shot at summer fun drew thousands to Ventura County shopping malls and amusement centers Monday as the long holiday weekend and summer vacation wound to a close.

It also brought teachers into their classrooms for last-minute preparations before school starts this week for many of the county’s children.

Shoppers filled the parking lot at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks and created a steady stream of foot traffic in the 155-store mall.

Occasionally, tempers frayed. One toddler who shouted at his mother and stormed away in defiance earned the sympathy of a weary man waiting for his wife to finish sale hunting.

“I feel like doing the same thing,” said James Murphy of Camarillo as he collapsed on a mall bench. “I hate shopping.”

But things were going more smoothly for Anthony Cozza, 11, and his mother, Rene Montez. The Oxnard residents stopped for pizza after working up an appetite shopping.

Anthony’s prize purchases were a pair of green Levi’s jeans and a bright T-shirt.

“I just like them, that’s all,” he said. His mother smiled. “I don’t dare pick out his stuff anymore,” she said.

Moorpark High School students Raymond Hinojosa, 18, and Derek Leonardo, 17, also knew what they wanted. They chose jeans, white T-shirts and Pendleton shirts.

“That’s what I’ve been wearing for about the last four years,” Hinojosa said.

Melynda Salazar, a 22-year-old junior at Cal State Northridge, dutifully purchased the sensible brown suit that her mother liked--and paid for--before picking out a few flashier items, such as a plaid vest.

“I tried to get everything on sale,” she said.

Barbara Teuscher, general manager of the mall, said merchants have been busy.

“July and August were up 5% over last year, so that’s a pretty good sign” for September, she said.

Shopping wasn’t the only activity on people’s minds Monday. Sara Hankins, 14, Ricky Taylor, 13, and Terry Young, 13, spent the first half of their holiday bowling and planned to go horseback riding in the afternoon.

“We wanted to get two things in on the same day before we went back to school,” Ricky said.

The Simi Valley trio stayed away from the malls to save cash. “I’m not spending money shopping because I’m saving money for a saddle and other things for my horse,” Sara said.

At the other end of the county, Ventura’s Golf N’ Stuff was crowded with families and kids of all ages.

“It’s something we can all do together,” said Daria MacNeil of Moorpark, who brought along her son, Derek, and his friend, Jeff Greeley, both 14. “We already shopped for school clothes,” Derek said.

There was a line of 10 to 15 people waiting to play miniature golf throughout the day, and a din resounded in the darkened video arcade as players stood elbow to elbow to zap enemy intruders.

“I think everyone in the county came here today,” said Golf N’ Stuff manager Alvin Kelsch. “We’ve had lots of families out enjoying themselves before school starts again.”

But not everyone had a holiday on Labor Day. Farm workers picked late-season melons and cut parsley under a hot sun.

“We rest on Saturdays,” said Elvira Hernandez, who worked in a parsley field in east Ventura with her daughter, Leticia Ceja. The two Oxnard residents finished their nine-hour day at 3:30 p.m.

“It’s very hard work,” Leticia said. “It’s hard on your back and your legs.”

Teachers at Santa Rosa Elementary School in Camarillo worked at a different task on Monday. They were cutting out name cards and labeling baskets for the younger students and finishing up more complicated lesson plans for those a little older.

Veteran sixth-grade teacher Sue Eastman was at work on her history and geography courses. She was planning a timeline marking such achievements as the introduction of stone tools 2,500,000 years ago, the discovery of fire around 70000 BC and the creation of laws in written form about 1750 BC.

“Rome has to fall by June 18,” Eastman said, “because the seventh grade picks right up from there.”

She also planned to have the students build their own papier-mache globes to impress upon them the dimensions of the Earth, its continents and bodies of water.

Kindergarten teacher Pat Harman was busy arranging her colorful room of miniature tables and chairs, complete with reading corner, a storytelling area and a place to play house.

“We started on all of this at least three weeks ago--without pay,” said Harman, a 20-year resident of Thousand Oaks. But Harman added that she and the other teachers at Santa Rosa don’t begrudge the extra work or the $1,000 that they typically spend from their own pockets each year for supplies that the district cannot afford.

“This is really the fun age,” she said of her students. “The younger you get them, the more of an impact you have on their lives. Most of all, you teach them that school is fun.”