Plenty of St. Nicks at Revamped Yule Parade : Oxnard: The gala event had been for children only, but adults join in this year. Competition is deliberately absent.

There was Santa Claus riding a bicycle. There he was again--this time in miniature, a toddler disguised as the jolly fat man in the red suit. And there he was sitting regally on a float fitted with a make-believe sleigh and fake reindeer.

And then there was Santa decked out in a huge black sombrero, dancing down B Street in Oxnard to the strains of Mexican music.

In short, there was no lack of Santas at Oxnard’s annual Christmas Parade on Saturday.

“Santa goes to Mexico, too,” said the dancing Santa, 16-year-old Steve Villarruel, who also sported a black, white, blue and yellow serape. “When Santa is in Mexico, he wears a sombrero and he doesn’t miss a fiesta.”

Bundled in jackets and under blankets, nearly 2,000 spectators gathered under cloudy skies along a five-block stretch of the city’s downtown to officially open the Christmas season.

For the past three years, the parade was billed as a children’s event and limited to participants under 12, said organizer Ruth Bernstein. This year, however, adults could join in.

An annual Christmas parade was a tradition in Oxnard for years, but the event died out several years ago for lack of interest, Bernstein said.

Then, three years ago, the city started the Children’s Christmas Parade. This year, organizers tried to incorporate some of the elements of the parades of years gone by, Bernstein said.

“Our goal is to revive an old tradition in Oxnard,” she said. “We want to create a Christmas spirit in the community, and we want to bring people to downtown.”

More than 500 children and adults took part in the old-fashioned procession, which included members of the Boys & Girls Club, teen-agers from La Colonia Community Recreation Center, the Oxnard High School Band and Boy Scout troops.

Among the first-time adult participants was Tom Buttler, 67. He and other members of the Oxnard Shriners Club displayed their collection of miniature cars, decorated with stuffed bears, miniature Christmas trees and tinsel.

Mayor Manuel Lopez rode in a 1929 Ford that was followed by several antique cars carrying local beauty queens, including Miss Oxnard, Miss Teen Oxnard and Miss Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Spectators cheered when a group of children and teen-agers from Ramirez Tae Ryong Kwon Do--a school for Korean martial arts--smashed wooden boards with their feet while flying through the air in acrobatic jumps.

“That’s my favorite,” said Sarah LaMar, 5, as she watched the group. “I want to kick like that.”

But for Sarah’s mother, Mary Raygoza, 30, the climax was when the last of the four Santas glided by in a huge red sleigh with flying reindeer.

“In the wide range of things, this is just a little parade, but it means the world to me,” said Raygoza, who was born in Oxnard. “I know that the sleigh is the same that I used to see when I was a kid and watched the parade with my parents.”

But not everyone who participated in the parade was pleased with its outcome.

Last year, participants were awarded trophies based on creativity and performance. This year, however, there were no trophies. Instead, everyone--including spectators--entered a drawing in which the grand prize was a trip for four to Disneyland.

“I’m truly disappointed,” said Fernando Navarro, whose two children marched as Mr. and Mrs. Santa on Saturday and in last year’s parade. “Last year we got a trophy which we keep with a lot of pride. . . . It will always remind us of the parade and all the effort that we as a family have put on preparing for this.”

But parade organizers said they wanted to give everyone a chance to win something.

“We want to take any trace of competition away,” Bernstein said. “We want to create an atmosphere of Christmas celebrations only.”