Trolley Ride Trumpets Santa Paula’s Cultural Side : Tourism: Planes, trains and old-fashioned automobiles are part of the city’s rich history, on display during monthly ‘First Weekend’ events.

Clara Behrens and LaVon Welch rode the old-fashioned trolley Sunday through the town where they have lived for a combined 101 years.

Like tour guides, they pointed out the attractions to a visiting Thousand Oaks couple: the Oil Museum, the cute cafe, the antique store full of treasures.

“I hadn’t been on the trolley,” Behrens said. “You can’t talk about it if you haven’t seen it.”

The free trolley ride, enjoyed by residents and visitors alike, came on the third day of the city’s “First Weekend”--a monthly look at Santa Paula’s cultural offerings.

Riders saw the Fillmore & Western train, the street lined with ornate Victorian homes and Santa Paula Airport.

Organized by the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce, First Weekend was designed to showcase the downtown area after a $3.5-million spruce-up last year, and to remind residents of the city’s history.

“We’re proud of it,” said Carol Mailloux, who runs the chamber and organized the monthly trolley ride. “It’s a step back in time. It’s 70 miles and 70 years from downtown L.A.”

New resident Holly Leavitt, who viewed the airport’s cadre of planes Sunday, said the tour provided a welcome respite from recent reports about a federal investigation suggesting Santa Paula’s at-large voting system has prevented Latino candidates from being elected to the City Council. Santa Paula’s population of 27,000 is 68% Latino.

“It just shows that Santa Paula’s been through many years,” she said. “We can all get through anything.”

At Santa Paula Airport, where pilots have shown off their planes the first Sunday of every month for 10 years, volunteers staffed a table devoted to more city history.

They have been working for years to establish the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula, a project that is expected to become a reality this year, said Bob Phelps, one of the organizers.

The museum will be housed in empty hangars studding the grounds of the 69-year-old airport.

“It’s a family airport, run by people who have an interest in it,” Phelps said. “I used to fly into here in the ‘30s. I was really impressed. Everything was so green.”

Phelps taught flight school at the airport for years, starting during World War II. On Sunday, he pointed to a Ryan STA biplane on the tarmac, just like the one he used to fly as a teenager.

Behrens and Welch also have fond memories of Santa Paula. Welch remembers when it was called “Little Bolivar” for the Missouri town that sent legions of families to California in the 1940s.

Behrens arrived in those days from Iowa and eventually ran the bus depot. She never had any desire to hop one of those buses for a one-way trip out of town.

“My son traveled all over the world,” Behrens said. “He said there’s nowhere better than Santa Paula.”