The Conejo Valley Days Parade is set to be a thing of the past unless money can be found to keep the traditional community event alive, officials say.

A last-minute corporate sponsorship deal brought the parade back from the dead last spring, but the outlook for 2008 is bleaker.

The Conejo Valley Activities Corp., which organizes the annual Conejo Valley Days, canceled the 2007 parade because of a lack of money.

The parade went ahead after a real estate company, Aviara, agreed to cover the costs.

This year, Aviara has told organizers the company is unable to sponsor the 2008 parade.

Barbara Kloster, a 34-year resident of Thousand Oaks, took it upon herself to find a sponsor for the 2007 parade. She is president of a horse riders' group, Equestrian Trails International's Corral 37, and said she wanted to see the parade continue as a tribute to the area's equestrian history.

She said the downturn in the real estate market is one of the reasons Aviara can't sponsor the parade again, and other potential sponsors have also been unable to help because of the state of the local economy.

Jean Duffy, who served as general chair of the 2007 Conejo Valley Days, said volunteer organizers are doing what they can to find a sponsor so the parade can continue.

"It's something we want to see carry on," she said. "I believe someone will step forward to help us."

Although the Thousand Oaks City Council and the Conejo Recreation and Park District board have voted to give $15,000 each to Conejo Valley Days, Kloster said, none of that money will be used to finance the parade.

"The grants will be used to pay for the carnival site, security, tent rentals" and similar needs, Kloster said.

"The carnival is a money-making venture, but the parade is free to the public and carries on a tradition that reflects the history of our community," she said. "If I could get three sponsors at $5,000 each or five sponsors at $3,000 each, then the parade could be saved."

The Kiwanis of Thousand Oaks have traditionally managed the parade, accepting applications from participants, setting up the parade route and providing up to 80 volunteers on the day to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Kiwanis President Don Hegarty said he's waiting to be told whether it will go ahead, and time is of the essence, he said.

"In the past, we started in October, collecting parade entries and planning for the event," he said. "For the 2007 parade, we only found out in January that it could go ahead, and we got lucky and managed to pull it off. But the longer we have to wait for a decision, the harder it will be to do it."

The 52nd annual CVD carnival is April 30 through May 4. The festivities officially begin April 19 with the CVD Kick-Off Picnic and Classic Car Show at the Civic Arts Plaza lawn.

The Kiwanis, who currently have 97 members in Thousand Oaks, have been involved in the parade since it began more than 50 years ago, and they would like to see the tradition continue, he said.

"It's the only thing left for horses and equestrians," Hegarty said.

Hegarty estimates it takes 1,400 man hours to organize the parade, and he's getting some members of his parade committee together just in case the sponsorship comes through at the last minute.

However, he warns if he doesn't get the go ahead by the middle of January, it might be too late to save the event.