Year After Temblor, Fillmore Celebrates : Recovery: Residents gather to recall their long journey back from the Northridge quake. They also learn about earthquake preparedness.

More than a year after Fillmore suffered millions of dollars in damage in the Northridge earthquake, the town’s residents gathered Saturday to celebrate their journey to recovery.

The effort to stage the celebration was itself plagued by disaster--the event was initially scheduled for Jan. 14 but was postponed twice because of last month’s heavy rains. Even on Saturday, some officials expressed disappointment that cloudy skies and chilly temperatures may have kept people away.

But there was a festive air among many of the estimated 300 residents who gathered on downtown Central Avenue to look back on their struggles of the past year, educate themselves about earthquake preparedness--and rejoice in Fillmore’s spirit of renewal.

“It’s great that they have people demonstrating how to do things,” said Ruth Miller, 79, after learning how to shut off a gas valve. “It’s really helpful having access to all this information.”

Booths and information tables lined a one-block stretch of Central Avenue, which a year ago was the scene of the city’s worst devastation. Now, much of the debris has been removed and many of the businesses in the area have reopened.

The tiny community of nearly 13,000 suffered an estimated $50 million to $100 million damage in the Jan. 17 disaster.

Since then, the city and residents have received about $3 million in federal aid to repair damaged buildings and rebuild structures that were demolished, said City Manager Roy Payne.

The event even drew residents from outside the city, who came to learn more about earthquake preparedness.

“It’s extremely helpful to have this type of event because it provides a lot of information about earthquakes and it also reminds people that earthquakes can happen any time,” said Jean Yanez, who drove from Oxnard with her husband. “I think every community should have something like this.”

In the booths, workers from about 20 federal, county and local agencies answered earthquake-related questions.

Representatives of the Project COPE, a program run by county mental health services, talked to parents about helping their children deal with post-earthquake traumas, while nearby Red Cross volunteers discussed first-aid and gave out other tips on preparedness.

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Patricia Trout of the Earthquake Recovery Program, part of the county’s Public Social Services Agency, handed out brochures and held a drawing for 10 prizes, including three earthquake kits, a clock and blankets.

“We are here because we want to make sure that people know that we exist and that we can help them and guide them when an earthquake strikes,” Trout said.

In addition to the earthquake- preparedness booths, the city set up its own booth with drawings of some of the city’s projects including a proposal for a new city hall and a train museum in downtown Fillmore.

Midafternoon, residents gathered in front of the city’s historic, still-shuttered Towne Theater to hear city officials and a resident testify about his struggles to rebuild his badly damaged house.

“After I woke up with the quake and saw all the damages, I thought to myself that I was on my own and wondered how I would be able to fix everything,” Gary Lopez told the crowd. “But then people came to us and offered help and now I’m back in my home.”

After the speeches, residents lined up in front of Central Market where the owners served up Indian food--including chicken with rice and salad--and distributed for free 120 bottles of apple schnapps for residents to take home.

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“We just want to contribute to the celebrations,” said Surinder S. Sunner, one of the market’s owners. “People love Indian food and we want to make the community happy.”

Prior to the downtown celebrations, officials gathered around an empty lot at Bard Street for a ground-breaking ceremony, where volunteers with Habitat for Humanity said they will begin Monday to build the first of eight houses to replace some of those destroyed in the quake. All eight houses should be finished within a year, officials said.

Dolores and Joe Rivera, whose home was destroyed in the quake, own the lot where the first house will be built and plan to move in as soon as work is completed. John T. Bailey, Habitat for Humanity’s director of earthquake repairs, said the Riveras were the first Fillmore family to ask the group for help.

“I’m so happy that I cannot even speak,” said Dolores Rivera, 56. “Since the quake I’ve been bouncing around everywhere. To think that in three months I will be able to have my house back is a miracle.”