From Bands to Firetrucks, Simi Valley Struts Its Stuff : Festival: Thousands line the street for the annual parade, which pays tribute to the city’s Spanish colonial past and to a few other eras.

When a bevy of belly dancers shimmied down Los Angeles Avenue past Tom Rogers on Saturday, the 27-year-old systems engineer nearly fell off the sidewalk.

“Simi is so small-town--this is not what I expected,” said Rogers, as the Jewels of the Nile Belly Dance Troupe slinked by with an exotic splash of purple scarves and Middle Eastern music. “It’s wonderful. It makes me proud to be a Simi resident to see all this.”

With 180 entries, this year’s Simi Valley Days Parade featured plenty of bands, floats and other rolling spectacles, including a deafening convoy of Ventura County Fire Department trucks.

“I liked the tractor,” said 11-year-old Jason Hammerling, who stopped clapping only for the moment it took to point out the object of his admiration--a monster-sized, firefighting bulldozer. “It’s so cool.”

Thousands of Simi Valley residents lined the city’s main thoroughfare for the morning parade, jockeying for patches of sidewalk shaded by the avenue’s trees. A mostly local, down-home affair, the parade drew many parents who had children riding on floats as well as residents wanting to mingle with their neighbors.

“There are thousands of people involved in this thing,” said 47-year-old project engineer Jim Cullen, whose daughter was marching with a Simi Valley girl’s softball team. “This is a strong community. I think the parade helps.”

Steve Manaka, an engineer from Simi Valley, was impressed by the endurance of the parade participants.

“I commend them for being able to walk the distance,” said Manaka, 45. “Here we are sitting in the shade.”

It wasn’t exactly a breeze for Ken Gosselin, for example, who negotiated the parade route in heavy makeup and women’s shoes.

But clad in a pink-and-green polka-dot dress and twirling a dainty parasol, the 63-year-old professional clown from the San Fernando Valley called his Dolly Parton costume a small sacrifice.

“I’m kind of warm,” said Gosselin, batting his absurdly long eyelashes. “But it’s the price of glamour.”

Looking groovy was also on Joann King’s mind as she strutted down Los Angeles Avenue in ‘70s-style, bell-bottom pants and a baggy polyester shirt. The Simi Valley hairdresser danced “the hustle” with other stylists following behind a Cadillac convertible.

“This is ‘Car Wash’ by Rose Royce,” King said, referring to the song’s title. “Where’ve you been, man?”

Though King was honoring the era of the Bee Gees and lace-up jeans, the parade itself paid tribute to Simi Valley’s Spanish colonial days.

Two hundred years ago last month, the Spanish government signed a land grant giving Spaniard Santiago Pico 113,000 acres in the area. Pico started El Rancho Simi, becoming one of the first European settlers in the region.

“This was one of the earliest Spanish colonial land grants given [in] Ventura and Santa Barbara counties,” said Patricia Havens, city historian of Simi Valley. “Because [Pico] was not considered anything special, I am trying to put him on the map.”

Although several floats rolled by with participants dressed as Spaniards and Native Americans, many spectators said they were unaware of the historic significance.

“I didn’t even know that they had a theme this year,” said Janice Richard, a 34-year-old office manager from Simi Valley.

Instead, most just enjoyed the entertainment. Jennifer Brossart of Simi Valley was transfixed by the prancing horses ridden by a women’s equestrian group called Las Mujeres.

“They’re beautiful,” cooed the 10-year-old.

Yet not everyone could keep themselves awake for the pageant, which lasted more than three hours. Crowned 1995’s Tiny Baby California in August, 13-month-old T.J. Durfee slept in his mother’s arms as their white convertible glided toward the parade’s end point.

But even though her son snoozed, Jennifer Anding-Durfee said he would savor the parade experience.

“He’ll remember,” said Anding-Durfee, a 34-year-old medical transcriptionist from Simi Valley. “I’ve got a nice scrapbook for him.”

Simi Valley Days continues through today.

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THE WINNERS

FLOATS

Mayor’s Trophy--Good Shepherd Lutheran School

Civic and Service

1st--Simi Valley Disabled Veterans

2nd--Simi Valley Historical Society

3rd--Sonrise Christian Fellowship of Simi Valley

Youth

1st--Simi Valley YMCA Y-Indian Guides

2nd--Cub Scout Pack 3643

3rd--Simi Valley Moose Youth Awareness

Theme Trophy

T-Top Plumbing

Commercial

1st--Coldwell Banker Town & Country

2nd--Hometown Buffet

3rd--A New Technique

AUTOS

Antique

1st--Conejo Valley Model A Club

2nd--Jim’s Tire Man Inc.

3rd--Southern California Military Vehicle Club

Classic

1st--Simi Valley Unified School District

Street Rod

1st--Rodfathers

Firetrucks

1st--Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley

2nd--Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus

3rd--The Southern California Volunteer Firefighters

Car Clubs

1st--Pure Excellence

2nd--Simi Valley Corvette Club

COMMUNITY MARCHING GROUPS AND NOVELTIES

Chairman’s Trophy

Gold Coast Beauty Pageants

Bicycle Units

1st--Sycamore BMX

2nd--National Park Service Mountain Bike Unit

3rd--Sheridan Adams

Novelty

1st--Dance Creations

2nd--Simi Valley SVAA Viking Cheerleaders

3rd--Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Hip Hop-Funk Dance

Scouts

1st--Tres Candados Girl Scout Council

2nd--Cub Scout Pack 3621

3rd--Cub Scout Pack 3688

Elementary

1st--Garden Grove Elementary School

2nd--Tie--Big Springs Elementary School and Sycamore Elementary School

3rd--Berylwood Elementary School

Civic and Service

1st--Boots & Slippers

2nd--Happy Squares of Simi Valley

3rd--United American Pit Bull Terrier Assn.