HART PARK LEGEND HEADED HOME AFTER 35 YEARS ON THE JOB.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

NEWHALL - She's belted out ``Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey'' with Louis Armstrong's backup orchestra and danced with glee on the steps of the nation's capitol.

She's stood on vacant parkland and envisioned children and adults at play and escorted The Lone Ranger around the ballroom at CalArts.

And she's usually the friendly face that greets visitors with a smile at the county's northern region office in Hart Park. But at the end of the month, Juanita Heinly, 83, is calling it quits after 35 years as a county employee. ``It's time,'' she said, browsing through another file of memorabilia at her desk, pointing out friends in a photograph of parks employees taken just weeks before the earthquake.

``The 1971 earthquake,'' she reminds a visitor. ``I remember coming in that morning and the chimney hanging off the side of the building and all the smoke. My boss called, and I told him to get the hell down here.''

She recalled the morning after the 1994 quake as well, pointing out that the chimney had been removed since those seismic events.

But the historic house that is her office, once the homestead of the pioneer Frew family, isn't the only thing that's evolved over the years, prompting Heinly to turn in her keys to a newer, younger team.

``It's changed so much around here. It used to be more like a family, but things are different. It's time to move on.''

With more than 9.6 million people being served by the parks department, change is inevitable. But while she misses the old-fashioned family, she knows that budgets and the public's demand for service bring about change.

Heinly was brought into the county fold in 1969 by parks director Bob Hallert, a friend of hers who saw her volunteering endless hours at various functions.

``He said, 'it's about time you got paid; you're here all the time.' I told him I couldn't pass the test because I didn't finish school,'' she said.

Growing up during the Depression, young Juanita was forced to leave school after only a week of her sophomore year because she couldn't afford books.

She signed a contract to play shortstop and left field for the Kansas City Girls Softball Team at 13, and at 17, was still under contract when she made her big move west to California.

She worked at a variety of jobs to make a living, but the importance of parks and recreation as her salvation was apparent in her activities for the next 70 years.

``She has a history of volunteering that goes back to 1952,'' said close friend and former Santa Clarita Mayor JoAnne Darcy.

``She's helped thousand of people over the years and served more than 30 organizations. She is so vibrant, so active, she exudes happiness and enthusiasm. She's always been a great cheerleader, and I love her as a sister. We couldn't be any closer if we were blood-born. She will tell you what she's thinking, no doubt about that. She's a true person.''

Juanita met and married her husband, Hank, in 1939, settling in the Agua Dulce area where they raised two daughters, Barbara and Beverly. Throughout her children's school years, Juanita was a good example of the adage, ``If you want something done, do it yourself.''

She became a force of nature in the community, helping to establish and serving the Agua Dulce Civic Association, the Mint Canyon Chamber of Commerce (which evolved into the Canyon Country Chamber), the Agua Dulce Women's Club, the Canyon Country Business and Professional Women's Club, the Soledad-Agua Dulce PTA, the Oak of the Golden Dream Senior Citizens Club and the Santa Clarita Valley Committee on Aging.

She was recognized for her work on the South Antelope Valley Coordinating Council and received the group's award for outstanding community service in that area.

Her claim to fame and fortune doesn't stop there. She was the 1978 Santa Clarita Valley Woman of the Year and served as senior intern for Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr. in May 1982.

She's served on countless county and city committees to support libraries, foster child programs, recreation programs, senior citizen and health services.

She's organized teen dances and Christmas parties for the underprivileged. And she received several commendations for her work organizing the county's annual senior citizen dances that attract hundreds of dancers over 55 to swing to live music, often joining the orchestra for a song or two before twirling around the dance floor herself.

``She is part Sophie Tucker, part Judy Garland, part Ella Fitzgerald, and kept the show crashing along,'' wrote the late Scott Newhall in a newspaper editorial.

``While her 300 silver-haired jitterbugs tore the walls, she belted 'Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?' clear out of the house and up, up, up into the wild blue yonder.''

Her eyes still sparkle when she remembers the night she squired legendary actor Clayton Moore, who starred in the TV series ``The Lone Ranger,'' at the gala dinner dance the night he was inducted into the Walk of Western Stars.

A photo of the two is prominently featured in a photo collage on her office wall that will move into her living room come April. A standing-room only party at Chuy's heralded her accomplishments as an ambassador for the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce.

And she remembers fondly a wild party thrown at the senior center to recognize both her achievements as a volunteer and of reaching age 70. Heinly lives near her daughter, Barbara, who takes Mom along on junkets to Las Vegas or other trips in the motor home. She plans on spending a little more time traveling and watching those shadows color the mountains. And there's always that bug to get a little more organized that's been biting at her.

``I'd like to clean up the junk that's been piling up,'' she said, laughing. ``The funny thing about winning all these nice things is that it takes twice as long to clean it up as it does to accomplish what you set out to do in the first place.

``Out at my house, I have the most wonderful back porch where I can sit and look out,'' she said dreamily. ``And when I look down on the San Gabriel range, I see all the shadows. Every butte is different and that's so magnificent. In the morning, the shadows are incredible, ever-changing.''

A pot-luck lunch is planned to celebrate Heinly's retirement at 11:30 a.m. March 31 in Hart Hall at William S. Hart Park. Friends are invited to participate. People wishing to attend should call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Juanita Heinly, 83, shows off a newspaper profile written about her back in 1963. Heinly is retiring from the Los Angeles County Parks Department after 35 years.

(2 -- color) Juanita Heinly points out some of the photos that chronicle her career with the L.A. County Parks Department.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News