The Happy Trails Parade, Street Fair & Classic Car Show rides into town this weekend – VVdailypress.com
Community leader Marcy Taylor said she believes the Happy Trails Parade, Street Fair & Classic Car Show is the perfect way to celebrate the “goodness of Apple Valley.”
The annual fall festival will return on Oct. 9 with parade floats, marching bands, vintage cars, food, music, vendors and more.
Taylor, the founder of the Apple Valley Legacy Museum, said her group’s parade float will recreate a scene depicted in a 1960s promotional brochure that features Roy Rogers and Dale Evans boasting “Apple Valley is for fun.”
The brochure includes an illustration of individuals — many wearing cowboy hats — swimming, dancing, cooking outside, playing music and golfing, according to Taylor, who also serves as president of the Mohahve Historical Society.
About 40 parade groups will meet near Central Road and Highway 18 before they travel west on south Outer Highway 18 to Pawnee Road before dispersing on Powhatan Road.
“COVID-19 forced us to cancel our event last year, but we’re back and excited to invite people to our party,” Village Event Coordinator Lovella Sullivan said.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. followed by the street fair and car show from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. at James A. Woody Park on the corner of Powhatan and Navajo roads.
“Our two grand parade marshals include the Carpino family and the Alfaro family, who both own restaurants in The Village.“ Sullivan said. “Tom Carpino and Gus Alfaro died last year and we thought we’d honor the families.”
Las Brisas Restaurant founder Gustavo Alfaro, 79, died in November, according to the Daily Press. Thomas “Tom” Joseph Carpino, 61, the founder of Mama Carpino’s Italian restaurant, died in December, online records show.
“We also have some old Hollywood actors that some people may recognize like Steve Connors, the son of Chuck Connors who starred in the TV series The Rifleman,” Sullivan said.
Other celebrities include actor Rich Rossi, who had a role in the film “The Godfather III” and is currently filming a new movie in the area. Also, animal rights activist, High Desert resident and actor Randal Massaro, who was in theTV series “Border Battles.”
Comedian and actor Michael Shanto, who has a role in the upcoming film “Under the Jacarandas” will also appear along with Robert Lanthier, the president of Reel Cowboys, a group dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Western films.
Also appearing is actor, film producer and President Donald Trump impersonator Pete Allman.
The Greasewood Brothers, known for their eclectic mix of rock, R & B, blues and country selections, is one of the bands that will perform at the street fair. The High Desert-based band’s name derives from the greasewood bushes found throughout the area.
For more information, visit www.FaceBook.com/AppleValleyVillage or www.AVVillage.org.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
