"Come With Me to CVD" was the theme of the 52nd annual Conejo Valley Days, which ended Sunday, and apparently enough people did go to make the event's organizers hopeful about pending attendance and profit figures, an official said this week.

"Our attendance last year was up 25 percent, and that was our goal this year — to at least maintain that because the economy is bad. We wanted to cover our costs and hopefully make some money," said Marty Campbell, CVD chairwoman. "We won't have all the figures in for another week or two, but we are pleased with what we've seen."

"Financially we'll be fine. In fact, we'll be good, but we still have to pay bills," she said. The annual volunteer-run, Western-themed community celebration in Thousand Oaks is a fundraising opportunity for civic clubs and other nonprofit groups.

While it kicked off with a picnic and car show April 19 and included various other events, the central activity was the festival and carnival, April 30 through last Sunday, at Conejo Creek Park South in Thousand Oaks.

Campbell said that one of the positive steps for 2008 was the decision to continue the "boosters program," which involved pre-CVD sales of entry tickets and ride tickets through schools.

This year, CVD volunteers instituted such changes as selling tickets online, increasing the number of concessions that rent space, enlarging the commercial tent and setting up locations outdoors for concessions to rent.

She also cited the Grand Marshal Race for Charity that numbered four contenders — the most in recent memory — which brought in $21,000.

"Concessions were really happy this year" with the business they did, and corralling children's activities into a separate Kid's Zone brought "a lot of positive change," she said.

She characterized audience attendance for the May 1 appearance of Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees as "large" and Saturday's hit makers The Grass Roots as "really large."

The celebration is officially steered by the Conejo Valley Activities Corp., a nonprofit organization. It is funded through various sources, including the city of Thousand Oaks and the Conejo Recreation and Park District.