Thousand Oaks Embarking on Happy Trails

The scene Saturday in Thousand Oaks was one repeated annually in celebration of the past--the children’s parade of young cowboys and cowgirls that marks the start of Conejo Valley Days.

This year, in addition to our coverage of the carnival rides and chili cook-offs and all the other hoopla surrounding the city’s big gest party of the year, The Times will take a look back at Thousand Oaks in its very earliest years in a series titled “Conejo Valley Remembers.”

The stories of those early years are told by people who lived them, courtesy of a group of Thousand Oaks residents who launched an oral history project four years ago to preserve the memories of the Conejo Valley’s earliest settlers.

In the first of seven articles based on those accounts, Kathleen Parks Goebel, 91, tells the story today of her life as an early homesteader who ended up helping to run the former wild animal park known as Jungleland.

For her story as well as the highlights of Saturday’s parade and a schedule of events, please see pages B6-7.