Camarillo Christmas Parade marches into town tomorrow
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers BIG ENTRANCE- Former boxing champion Fernando Vargas, pictured moments before his Nov. 23 bout with Ricardo Mayorga, will be the grand marshal of tomorrow's Camarillo Christmas Parade.

Even in retirement, Fernando Vargas has to stay on his toes.

The former boxing champion will be the grand marshal of the Camarillo Christmas Parade this Saturday. The procession begins at noon tomorrow on the corner of Temple and Las Posas roads and ends at the Community Center on Burnley Street.

"We knew that he participated in the 1996 Olympics. We contacted him, and he was very gracious to participate," said Jeri Letus, parade coordinator and special events supervisor for the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District.

The parade will feature another Olympic-caliber athlete, Alicia Hollowell. The former University of Arizona pitcher, who is on the roster for the 2008 U.S. Olympic softball team, will spend a few hours away from Mission Oaks Park, where she is conducting a free pitching clinic for girls registered in the Camarillo Girls Softball Association, to wave at parade spectators from a car.

Vargas, an Oxnard native who lives in Camarillo, announced his retirement after a 12-round loss by decision to Ricardo Mayorga on Nov. 24 at the Staples Center.

For the first time in four years, the park district is taking over the parade from the Camarillo Pageant Association. Because of lack of volunteers and funding, the association couldn't run the event this December, so the district, which has offered some assistance the last four years, has been busy organizing the 46th annual parade.

This year the parade will feature 101 entries, including floats, specialty units, automobiles, bands and equestrian groups. After the parade there will be an awards ceremony and food at the Community Center.

The Christmas Parade runs in conjunction with Santa's Village Holiday Carnival, which begins today and continues through Sunday.

"This event is very valuable to the community," Letus said. "It brings them together. You meet new people and see different things."

Santa's Village will include carnival rides and more than 50 arts and crafts booths, food vendors and live entertainment all three days. Tonight, the jazz band Tempo Cats will play at 7. On Saturday night at 7, the countrywestern band Caught Red Handed will perform. Folk band Far From Kansas will entertain revelers Sunday at noon.

After the start, the parade will continue west along Las Posas for about 1.2 miles before turning left at Carmen Drive and ending at the Community Center.

The following streets will be closed for part of the day on Saturday: Temple/Hartnell to Las Posas; Las Posas/Charter Oak to Loma; Temple from Las Posas to Aloha; Las Posas from Charter Oak to Lantana; Carmen Drive from Tamarax to Ponderosa; Burnley from Carmen to Brently; the Community Center parking lot (parking with permit only); and Ponderosa at Temple intermittently.

For more information, call (805) 482-1996, ext. 18, or visit www.pvrpd.org.