Maynard brings back memories

The following article first appeared in the Wednesday, January 9, 1985 edition of the “Ojai Valley News” on Page A-10. It is reprinted here with their permission.

ABOUT FOLKS IN OAK VIEW

Maynard brings back memories
by
Nancy Breese


It will be a great get-together for a great cause Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Nordhoff High gym when popular jazz musician Maynard Ferguson is presented in concert, to help raise funds for the valley’s annual summertime gala — the Fourth of July celebration. Oak Viewians have always been very much a part of the day-long festivities. The Oak View Women’s Club, individual horseback riding groups, 4-H Clubs, Little League, Civic Council, and the Oak View Lions Club have, through the years, been caught up in the spirit of the day, and many local youngster and adult has added a page to his memory book from parade-day experiences. Marge Hatton was kind in providing the following “trips down Memory Lane.”

“Barbara Smith particularly recalls the year of the Bicentenial, 1976, when she was chairman of the prize-winning Oak View Women’s Club float “100 years of Womanhood.” Well over 1,000 tissue-paper flowers of red, white, and blue adorned the float. So you can imagine the chagrin of this energetic group including, among others, Lovell Willis (then president and now living in Visalia), Anne Gutierrez (still an exceptionally active member and officer) and Judy Dickens (now of Ojai) when the fog came rolling in late the night of July 3. The dyed paper in the flowers began to weep — and so did the participants. Smith, always ingenious when it comes to “saving the day” under pressure, remembered the giant parachute her family used for camping, located it, and covered the mammoth flower-covered canopy for the night. Needless to say, all turned out beautifully.

“THIS WAS by no means a first parade experience for Smith. In the mid-60s, her husband Mike enlisted her help in using his entire baseball team, on which her son, Mike, Jr. (Butch), was a player, and setting up a baseball diamond on their float, with a game in full swing. In 1970, daughter Wilma, now grown and still a valley resident, walked the Indian pony “Judo,” ridden by owner, daughter of Jim and Loretta Wagoner, who was 11 years old at the time. The girls not only walked the parade route, but also walked to and from their homes on Valley View — approximately eight miles each way!

“Oak Viewan Kathy Moore and Topa Topa 4-H Club leader Kathy Caywood really had their hands full getting kids and animals (including a tiny bottle-fed lamb of Merilee Sherman’s) organized at the parade grounds last year.

“With a giant wedding cake as a central point, a miniature “bride and groom” had a slight difference of opinion. No problem for four-year-old Brandi Azevedo, daughter of Rick and Linda Azevedo, who has been center-stage often as a frequent beauty contestant and winner. But five-year-old “groom” Brian Haley, son of Roger and Chris Haley, decided that darn “thing” was just too far up in the sky for him. Leaders and parade assistants, including Shari Skinner and Linda Warner, finally convinced him all would be well. It was, until the float started to move and Tamara Caywood, trying to retrieve an American flag that was taking off for the “wild blue yonder,” nearly tumbled off the tractor herself.

“The Old-Time Fiddlers’ Association, with cut-up Larry Shellnut, was a popular entry in the mid-70s with their fiddling and outhouse antics. Another popular group was the 3/4 Midget Racers with Rick Taylor and several other drivers from the California Motor Association. Local Shriner Milt Taylor and his wife Marge, who have a miniature antique car, have been in more parades than they can remember and could fill a book with happy anecdotes.

“THE PARADE grounds on Country Club Drive are a hub-bub of activity for hours before the parade. Two yeas ago, three-year-old Danny Jones, son of Randy and Jenice Jones, wore himself out (not really, Danny never wears himself out) running back and forth, trying to decide whether to ride with his mom on the Oaks fitness float (where there was lots of action), or on the Century 21 Little House float filled with youngsters three to eight years old. After being boosted innumerable times off the ground onto the Century 21 float, he decided that’s where he would stay. He did — until the parade was underway, and he THEN realized he should’ve located the outhouse when he was on the ground. 6’3″ Century 21 broker Bruce Hibberd came to the rescue and air-lifted Danny off and back on again.

“LAST YEAR the Jones’ rode together on an entry from their own Flexation Fitness Center. They are just one of the Oak View families who consider Ojai Valley’s Independence Day celebrations “the greatest.” They whole-heartedly support the Maynard Ferguson benefit concert — for two reasons, not the least of which is that they are avid fans of Ferguson.

“Tickets for the concert are available at the Fitness Center, 655 Monte Via St., and at the Century 21 offices in Oak View and Ojai. It’s an entertainment bargain at $6.50 per person. Newspaper editor Earl Reeves once stated, “A boom and a sparkling burst in the night sky may not make a whole lot of fiscal sense, but it does wonders for one’s morale and sense of tradition.”

“Oak View and the Ojai Valley’s morale is good, their sense of tradition intact. Indications are that locals will turn out in force to hear Maynard Ferguson an Jan. 19. It’s certainly an easy, enjoyable way to suppost a worthwhile cause.”

Thank you, Marge. I really appreciate your contribution! Have any news you’d like to share? Please call me at 649-9416.


Nancy Breese