PARADE MOVED TO LINK UP TO SIMI FAIR.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Simi Valley Days wouldn't be a community celebration without the Saturday parade that draws thousands along Los Angeles Avenue, so organizers have moved the route to link the parade with the new carnival site.

The parade ran from Erringer Road to Sinaloa Road for the past 12 years, ending near the site on Madera Road where new housing is now under construction. With the carnival site moving to Tapo Street for this year's event, the parade will run further east on Los Angeles Avenue, organizers said Friday.

``We decided on changing the route when it became firm that we could have the Tapo Street site to use this year,'' said Jo Ann Macek, executive director for the Simi Valley Days Committee. ``It makes sense for the parade to stay close to the carnival site.''

But organizers acknowledge they are concerned that residents accustomed to watching the two-hour-long procession on the west end of the city's main thoroughfare will return there Sept. 20.

In an effort to keep attendance from suffering, organizers are getting the word out more than a month ahead. And on the day of the parade, volunteers will contact bystanders waiting for the procession on the former route.

``We're going to have people along the old route in case we see people getting comfy. We will have some people driving around telling them the new location,'' Macek explained.

This year's parade will begin at Sequoia and Los Angeles avenues and run east to Tapo Street, then go north a short stretch to Valley Fair, east to Winifred Street and back north to Eileen Street at the rear of the carnival site.

Little else about the parade is new, other than an entry category for ``manly machines.''

There is room for as many as 150 entries in the usual categories, namely autos, bands, community marching groups, floats, equestrians and dignitaries. The new machine category already has one entrant, a John Deere tractor and trailer, and applications are being accepted for entries in the various other categories, said Mary Rhoads, the parade coordinator.

``It's a small community parade with down-home flavor. There's fire engines, a lot of horses and things,'' she said.

A silver lining in what has been yet another challenge for the Simi Valley Days Committee is new asphalt pavement parade entrants will tread on along Los Angeles Avenue.

``There's a lot more turns though,'' Rhoads noted. ``It's going to be challenging to keep people going in a straight line.''

Simi Valley Days is scheduled to run from Sept. 17-21, with the carnival site on the six-acre lot where the Pic 'N' Save and Sears stores stood before the Northridge Earthquake hammered the buildings. The community celebration was slated for a 32-acre site near 1st Street and Los Angeles Avenue, but it was moved for this year because grading and other site development couldn't be completed in time.

A remaining hurdle remains parking and organizers said Friday they also hope to have that settled.

In addition to some 700 parking spaces in a shopping center across from the carnival site, organizers have gained access to the Metrolink station's 600 parking spaces. Residents who park at the station can take a shuttle bus to the carnival site.

Organizers also will encourage residents heading to Simi Valley Days to ride bicycles or walk along the Arroyo Simi bike path that includes a link from the station to an industrial area near the carnival site.

For more information on Simi Valley Days, including volunteering or to make donations, phone [phone].

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Map: Simi Valley Days site - Parade route

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