Thousands in County Mark Presidents’ Day in the Sun : Holiday: Residents take to the beaches, parks and malls under clearing skies. Reagan Library holds presidential look-alike contest and turn-of-the-century fair.

From Simi Valley to the Ventura shore, thousands of county residents made their way outdoors Monday to celebrate Presidents’ Day and take advantage of the spring-like weather.

Parks, shopping malls, beaches and other public gathering places were packed as people across the county sought to make up for a holiday weekend that started out cold and wet.

Officials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library opened the museum doors for free Monday, holding a Presidents’ Day bash fit for voters, taxpayers, and heads of state and household.

Would-be thespians competed in a presidential look-alike contest. The close match was won by Jay Koch of Port Hueneme, who so resembles Reagan that, he said, he once portrayed the former President in a Hollywood comedy.

Walking the courtyard under mostly sunny skies, the director of the library foundation welcomed many of the visitors Monday.

“What better way to spend Presidents’ Day than with the Presidents?” director Richard Norton Smith asked. “This is very much in keeping with what (the Reagans) want for the library.”

For a few hours, the museum courtyard was transformed into a turn-of-the-century country fair, complete with an old-time band, living images of Presidents past, and free cake and cotton candy.

“I think it’s cool,” said 10-year-old Bethany Hale of Simi Valley. “They have all the Presidents and people dressed up in old clothes. I didn’t know Teddy Roosevelt was so fat.”

Bethany’s father, Marlund Hale, said the Reagan Library was an ideal spot to take his daughter on Presidents’ Day.

“It’s a great community resource,” the environmental engineer said.

Along the Ventura County coast, where winds were gusting up to 25 m.p.h. Monday afternoon, colorful kites competed for airspace.

Ventura resident Terrell Cryer clenched the reins of a multicolored stunt kite, sending it diving and climbing above the white sand of Marina Cove Beach. Like dozens of others, the commercial fisherman took advantage of a dry but wind-whipped day.

“This is like a very beginning one,” he said of the kite, which he received for Christmas. “There are some of these kites that will lift you right off the ground.”

A short walk down the beach, Hollen Baker was carving trails in the sand with the heels of his feet. Gripping the handles of a high-performance stunt kite, Baker skied on the sand as his toy zipped and danced through the air.

“He’s a wind junkie,” Rubin Rubio said of his son as he watched the kite drag Baker all over the beach. “He’s addicted to stunt kites.”

Rubio and Baker are from Canoga Park, where there is little room to fly kites. At Marina Cove Beach, they set up a wind sock and set out to fly an assortment of kites.

“It’s hard in the city,” Rubio said of the limited space and the other distractions. “Here, we can have good, clean fun.”

At Oxnard State Beach, the fun wasn’t so clean.

The first couple of times that 5-year-old Kelli Johnston tried to fly a kite by herself, she was pulled to the ground and muddied.

“I want to do it again,” she told her parents, Bill and Sheri Johnston of Oxnard.

She got up and tried again. This time, even as the kite threatened to lift her off the ground, Kelli held tight and flew it by herself. Her parents stood back and watched their daughter on the green park lawn.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Sheri Johnston said.

At The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, shoppers crowded the stores and aisles, lined up for the ATM machine, and waited for tables at Sweeney’s and other restaurants.

“I don’t think they’re celebrating Presidents’ Day; they just want the sales,” said Tami Decker, a waitress at Sweeney’s who spent her holiday bustling from table to table.

“Ever since the earthquake, people don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said.

Upstairs, Diana Hayden was taking a break on a wooden bench overlooking the crowds. “I just wanted to get out of the house, get a change of scenery,” she said while eating a chicken sandwich.

“I might do a little shopping,” Hayden added between bites. “My niece has a birthday coming up.”

Temperatures in the upper 60s lured hundreds of people to Conejo Creek Park, where families ate hand-packed picnics and children played on jungle gyms and other playground equipment.

Two mothers from Newbury Park sat perched a few yards from their children, who were busy amusing themselves on a swing set built for four.

“In school (today), they’re going to make hoecakes, because that’s what George Washington ate,” said Cheri Kruger, when asked what Presidents’ Day meant to her family. “I learned that from my 7-year-old.”

Six-year-old Casey Troulman said she recently has become an authority on Abraham Lincoln. “I didn’t learn anything about George Washington,” she said. “My teacher just talked about Abraham Lincoln.”

Her brother, Aaron Troulman, 9, had no doubt about what he liked best about Presidents’ Day.

“You get the day off,” he said. “I like that.”

Jeff McDonald is a correspondent and Fred Alvarez is a Times staff writer.