FRONTIER DAYS EVENT RIDES BACK INTO TOWN; ELKS GIVE NEW LIFE TO ANNUAL FESTIVAL.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Details of the 33rd annual Frontier Days, organized by the local Elks Lodge, are coming together as the Santa Clarita Valley's festival of Western heritage is less than a month off.

The event will be held Oct. 10-12 on a 30-acre site next to the Antelope Valley Freeway and Sand Canyon Road, said Jay Larkins, exalted ruler of Elks Lodge No. 2379 in Canyon Country.

Admission to Frontier Days will be $5 for teen-agers and adults. Children ages 12 and under get in free, Larkins said.

Hours of the weekend festival are 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

All proceeds from the $2 parking fee will be donated to two local charities, Larkins said. The Explorers post at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station will split the parking fees with the Elks' fund to assist handicapped children, he said.

In early June, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce announced that it would not stage Frontier Days. The annual carnival was moved from its usual time during autumn to the Fourth of July weekend last year.

The 1996 event was a money loser and seemed to signal the demise of Frontier Days. Then the 355-member Elks chapter stepped in to resurrect the popular festival, and private landowners agreed to allow the celebration on their property next to the freeway.

The chamber's board of directors voted recently to let the Elks use the Frontier Days name for three years, for a token payment of $1 per year, Larkins said.

The Elks Lodge originated the festival back in the 1960s, he noted.

Last year, Frontier Days was held on property owned by The Newhall Land and Farming Company, on Soledad Canyon Road east of the Saugus Speedway. The agricultural land wasn't available this year, and the cost of equipping the site last year was prohibitive, Chamber of Commerce officials said.

The chamber abandoned the festival because no land was available and because while Frontier Days is intended as a fund-raiser, last year's event generated more expenses than profits.

This year's celebration has already attracted artisans, food vendors and entertainment, Larkins said. Negotiations for a musical headliner are nearly complete, he said. Members of the Canyon Theatre Guild have agreed to perform one-act plays on a stage at the festival, and comedians will also entertain the crowd.

Plans call for this year's edition of Frontier Days to feature live music from rock and country-western bands, an arts-and-crafts fair, mock gunfighting exhibitions, carnival rides and games, a petting zoo and lessons in country line dancing.

Many of the exhibitors will be artists who are local shop or gallery owners, but amateurs are also welcome to display or sell their wares, Larkins said. ``This is completely open to the person who does arts and crafts in their house or their garage and wants to get them out in the public,'' he said.

Local 4-H clubs will display some of their winning entries from the recent Antelope Valley Fair, Larkins added. Also on hand will be representatives from Elks chapters in San Fernando and Canoga Park, promoting their charitable and community service activities.

Missing from this year's fair will be Frontier Days staples like the Miss Frontier Belle pageant and the rodeo, both of which couldn't be organized on such short notice, Larkins said.

After expenses have been met, any profits from the festival will fund Elks Lodge programs - particularly its annual college scholarships, along with its Hoop Shoot and Soccer Shoot-Out events.

The chapter is seeking donations of equipment, materials and supplies, along with volunteer labor, to stage Frontier Days.

To set up a vendor booth, call the Frontier Days hotline at [phone]. For information on the fair, call the Elks Lodge at [phone].