Parents Beware: Disney is coming to town....

Parents Beware: Disney is coming to town. The traveling road show of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” hits Thousand Oaks today and Thursday, taking over the entire lower level of The Oaks mall. . . . Anticipated two-day crowd: 100,000 people. Merchants, mall spokeswoman Nicole Haslinger says, are rubbing their hands in glee. “We’ve told them to expect Christmas-like crowds.”

Quiet Solstice: The summer solstice is 7:24 tonight, but at Ojai’s oldest center of ancient spiritualism--the Krotona Institute--no one seems to have plans to celebrate. . . . The winter solstice is a regular event at Krotona, “but not this one,” says Celeste of the Krotona Quest bookshop. “Everyone splits in the summer.”

Better Than Cash: Should you give a panhandler money, or would he just use it for booze? A solution to that dilemma being tried in Los Angeles (B11) has been practiced in Ventura County for some time. . . . Instead of coins, the Ventura County Rescue Mission suggests tokens good for a night’s stay at the shelter. While anyone in need can stay without a token, the coin is handy “because a lot of times people don’t know what to do when they see a homeless person,” says Carol Roberg of the mission. Call 487-7667 to get some.

Shining Miners: For more than 30 years, Southern Pacific Milling Co. pulled rocks out of the Ventura River bed. Now, the state Mining Assn. has recognized it for putting something back. Friends of the Ventura River helped the company turn the former mine site into a natural habitat, and now even birds that hadn’t been seen since 1909 are returning. . . . “In this business, very seldom do you work hand in hand with an environmental group,” said Bill Berger, company vice president. “We dig holes and they don’t generally like that.”