Tour to Remember Days of Long Ago

Frank Farmer remembers herding cattle across Ventura Boulevard, the country road precursor to the Ventura Freeway, back when traffic meant a car or two rolling through the hills.

“We would get cattle out of the Valley, haul ‘em out here on a truck, and let ‘em go on the open range to keep the grass down,” he recalled.

Farmer, 74, still lives in the house his parents built in 1931 in Calabasas. In an era of rapidly shrinking open space, Farmer’s recollections--of ranchers and coyotes, of baling hay and washing the cars of movie starlets at the local garage--remind listeners of what has already vanished.

On Tuesday, Farmer will share some of his recollections as he leads a walking tour of Old Town Calabasas. “I’ll be yapping away,” he said.

The free tour will begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in front of the Sagebrush Cantina, 23527 Calabasas Road.