VOLUNTEER HISTORIANS GUIDE WAY.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Dressing up as a Conejo Valley pioneer gal is still loads of fun for Norma Stafford, even after more than two decades of leading tours through the Stagecoach Inn Museum.

Wearing the red, white, blue - and gray - garb that makes docents easy to find inside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum also suits the talkative Thousand Oaks resident.

``The Stagecoach Inn, that is my first love, but this has kind of taken over,'' said Stafford, leader of the presidential library's 190-strong docent association. ``The visitors are so interesting, they're from all over the world. They ask about (the former president) all the time and it's always wonderful when he comes up there.''

The volunteer gives about 10 hours a week to the Simi Valley home of Reagan's legacy and the same amount of time each month to the state historic landmark in Thousand Oaks.

Stafford is one of the more recognizable goodwill ambassadors for two of Ventura County's most popular destinations. Visitors likely would not have the same experience at either without the legion of volunteers.

``Without them, there is nothing,'' said Sandra Hildebrandt, director for the Stagecoach Inn Museum.

The Conejo Recreation and Park District owns the museum and 4-acre site, which also features a pioneer home, a Spanish-Mexican adobe, a Chumash reed hut and a replica of the one-room Timber School. The Conejo Valley Historical Society owns the interior furnishings and collections.

With an annual budget of just $65,000, the Stagecoach Inn Museum needs many volunteers, and docents are the landmark's backbone. They lead tours three hours a day, five days a week dressed in outfits from the Victorian era, when the inn originally known as the Grand Union Hotel opened to provide a repast for the stagecoach set.

Hildebrandt said 171 volunteers gave 27,000 hours to the Stagecoach Inn last year. That breaks down to an average of nearly 13 hours a month for each volunteer - well above the six hours a month they commit to after completing training.

``I really believe we have something strong to offer. You can see the product of your labor here,'' she said. ``And everyone seems to find a place.''

Sweat and elbow grease

Gardens and grounds at the Stagecoach Inn Museum provide a kind of oasis for visitors. Plenty of Jack Sprankling's sweat went into the landscape.

``It takes a lot of work. There were several areas that needed help,'' recalled Sprankling of his first volunteer work there more than eight years ago. ``It was a big job and we're still fighting the thing.''

The retired school administrator still dresses as a settler from 1876 for the annual ``Evening on the Conejo'' living history fund-raiser.

``The people come by and watch us in action, trying to sell this man some land,'' Sprankling said of his role. ``A bunch of us bought property a few years ago and we're trying to unload some of it. We knew more people would be coming up to the Conejo Valley.'' The cost: $3 an acre. ``It's fairly honest,'' he said, in character.

Jeanne Stapp tapped her reservoir of experience as an elementary school teacher when she became a docent some 10 years ago. Now a longtime Historical Society board member, Stapp recalls in good humor that she initially volunteered on a whim at friend's urging.

``It was an easy sell,'' she said of the docent training program. ``It's up to the volunteers to keep it going because I think it is a very important part of our history.''

Stapp said among her proudest accomplishments was organizing a program on Jungleland. Part zoo, part animal training facility, it opened in 1926 as Goebel's Lion Farm and became Jungleland some years later. The animals were sold at auction in 1969 and the attraction was closed.

Now she is working with a committee considering the task of publishing an updated history of the Conejo Valley.

``There's something going on there all the time,'' she said. ``If you find something you are specifically interested in, I think that's very important in keeping the volunteers coming.''

Sprankling and Stapp were recognized Saturday at the Fiesta del Triunfo for their years of outstanding service to the Conejo Valley Historical Society. They received the honorary titles of Don and Dona Triunfo. The Triunfo name recalls the original Spanish description of the area: ``The triumph of the sweet name of Jesus.''

Stafford was Dona Triunfo of 1984.

Recognition is nice, but the museum grounds' tranquil allure keeps Stafford coming back. ``Once you get in that gate, you're transformed away from the hustle and bustle. It's a calming place,'' she said.

Presidential draw

Over on a knoll in the Simi Hills, the Reagan Library draws more than 135,000 visitors each year, placing a premium on the so-called people skills of Stafford and the other docents.

``Without the volunteers, the visitor experience would be very much diminished,'' said Sarah Duda, director of education and public programs. ``They really are the backbone of our operation.''

Seven veteran docents coordinate seven or eight docents each day on the museum floor. Docents also work at gift shop, archives, presidential gift collection and the audio-visual area.

There also are events each month that require additional volunteers, ranging from school election programs to the annual Fourth of July celebration, Christmas Open House, Presidents Day and the Rawhide Roundup Western Day.

With the Reagan Library open seven hours a day, seven days a week except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, the docents are in demand and therefore are an active bunch. The minimum commitment is 100 hours a year.

Duda said the Reagan Library always seems to draw volunteers without much effort. ``We recruit a lot through word of mouth. We get a lot of inquiries,'' she noted. ``We're just looking for good solid citizens who like people and have an interest in history.''

One draw clearly has been the chance to meet the former president.

Stafford has spent a few minutes with him on three occasions. The first was at his Century City office in 1993, when she was named a docent of the month, an award no longer given. The second occasion came when Stafford took a then-93-year-old volunteer to meet Reagan in Century City, and the third was this spring during one of Reagan's visits to the library.

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Photo

PHOTO Longtime volunteers Jack Sprankling and Jeanne Stapp are docents at the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Thousand Oaks.

Phil McCarten/Daily News