Revelers Play, Watch, Eat Way Through 4th

Fourth of July revelers barbecued, shopped and paraded across Ventura County on Tuesday, from a family picnic in Moorpark to a bustling street fair in Ventura to a series of spectacular fireworks shows that set the nighttime skies ablaze.

But it was children who had the most fun.

Near Simi Valley, they took over the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, marching through a Civil War exhibit, listening to storytellers and tossing water balloons and beanbags in a series of games.

“It’s the games and the food that make it so much fun,” 9-year-old Peter Burgwald of Granada Hills said while devouring a bag of popcorn. “There is so much to do that I don’t know where to go first.”

For some parents, the daylong event at the library was a way to be patriotic and have fun without having to deal with traffic and huge crowds.

“We can let the kids wander around without worrying,” said Steven Cowdin, 34, of Simi Valley. “The library also offers them a chance to be patriotic and learn about American history. I don’t know a better place to spend the Fourth of July.”

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In Ventura, children toured the streets in a happily unorganized parade featuring bumblebees, angels and a sizable swarm of space creatures.

“They’re not aliens; they’re the omnipotent Q,” said Carolyn Blossom, 39 of Ventura, referring to her pair of aluminum foil-and-glitter-encrusted children in a gold wagon with the letter Q painted on the side.

Although they were supposed to represent an all-powerful character from “Star Trek,” 7-month-old Dru and 3-year-old Dylan seemed a little overwhelmed by the mayhem of the Pushem-Pullem Parade. The parade of children and parents kicked off the city’s street fair, which boasted live music at every intersection and filled downtown with an estimated 40,000 shoppers, gobblers and eyeballers.

“It’s amazing. This is one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen here,” said festival organizer Faye Campbell, director of special events for the city.

In other parts of the county, families flocked to parks and beaches to celebrate Independence Day.

In Moorpark, Arroyo Vista Community Park was transformed into a children’s wonderland during a four-hour family picnic. As the kids played games, their laughter and shouts of joy competed with the sounds of a local band.

Eight-year-old Nick Bailey joined other children in a relay.

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“It has been a lot of hard work, but our team won five games already,” Nick said after finishing the game. “We want to win more.”

While 4-year-old Sammy Shedd played baseball with a plastic bat, 2-year-old Madison Pierce jumped and spun atop a trampoline. Nearby, 9-year-old Shyna Whorf screamed as she rode a pony.

“It has been great fun. My favorite game so far was dunking the [deputy] sheriff,” said Shyna, referring to her experience at the dunking booth sponsored by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “I got him wet twice and I got him good.”

In Ventura, about 400 vendors lined Main Street, hawking everything from Hawaiian chicken sticks to spacescape paintings to hair scrunchers to information on the John Birch Society. None was more conspicuous than Eliseo Alaniz.

Sporting a straw hat with red, white and blue pinwheels, streamers and stars sticking out of it, the 42-year-old retired Marine beckoned passersby to a booth selling tamales for the Apostolic Church in Ventura.

“Juuuuicy, finnnnger-lickin’ tamales, right here!” the Ventura resident bellowed, rubbing his belly for emphasis.

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Every now and then, someone from the booth asked him to slow down; he was attracting too many customers. But Alaniz, his voice raspy by midday, couldn’t help himself.

“I can’t go crazy at home or else they’ll throw me out,” he said. “But out here, for this one day, I have a lot of fun. . . . This is what the Fourth of July is all about, basically, what you see here. A lot of happy people. Compared to other countries, where people don’t have this freedom--we can come out and do what we want.”

Times staff writer Greg Schneider contributed to this story.