A new starting point has been picked for Saturday's Conejo Valley Days parade, which this year features celebrity grand marshal Chad Everett.

At 9 a.m., the 1 1/2 mile-long parade will get under way on Thousand Oaks Boulevard at Pierce Arrow Avenue, a side street into the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall, according to chairman David Biedebach of the Kiwanis Club of Thousand Oaks, parade organizers since 1970.

Pierce Arrow is four blocks from the former starting point at Duesenberg Drive. The switch makes more parking available, said Don M. Hegarty Jr., 25-year parade participant and the 2006 and 2007 parade chairman.

Parking is also the reason Kiwanis in 2007 switched the parade to end at The Lakes shopping center so the adjacent Civic Arts Plaza parking structure could be used, Hegarty said.

On Saturday, from 9 to 9:15 a.m., look skyward for the arrival of a vintage P-51 Mustang from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, piloted by Mark Foster at about 1,000 feet.

About 90 units, from bands and horses, to decorated cars, truck "floats," Scouts, clowns, Shriner funny cars and the Wells Fargo stage are entered in the parade, Biedebach said. "We're ready for the community."

And Kiwanis members hope the community is ready. In recent years, the number of parade watchers has dwindled, along with funding support. The 2007 parade was canceled until a parade sponsor stepped forward to kick in $15,000. The 2008 CVD Chairwoman Marty Campbell said last month, "We have the money to put on the parade" with different sponsors, and she cited a "renewed interest" in Conejo Valley Days.

The community celebration, with various events including the festival and carnival, runs through Sunday at Conejo Creek Park South.

As for the parade, "We're All on the Same Journey" will be one entry from Children's Youth Groups at Hospice of the Conejo, sponsored by Vice President Sheryl Lewanda. Along with hospice families and friends, youth group members will ride in a double-decker bus, its top deck open.

"It's a beautiful theme for our Good Grief Children's Support Group, most of whom have lost a parent, sibling or other loved one," said Maria Prescott, executive director.

Planning the parade since January, Kiwanis will show up Saturday, 85 volunteers strong, for breakfast at 5:30 a.m. at Sharkey's.. Biedebach credits Sharkey's with help for the pre-parade VIP reception.

"We put a lot of man hours into organizing, planning and presenting the parade for our community," Hegarty said. The parade tenor is timeless because of a hometown feel and "historic flavor of the Conejo Valley: family values, picnics, fairs."

For more information, visit http://www.conejovalleydays.org.