Oakbrook Park and the Dirt Trails

Launching rockets in the dirt trails next to the park along Pederson Rd.

 

View showing what was previously considered "dirt trails" but was eventually developed into the Symphony neighborhood.  This is the area that Mom and Dad refer to where herds of sheep grazed.

 

Curtis:
Fire at the dirt trails in 1977ish. I skated down to the paseo in my metal wheeled skates one afternoon. I was just learning so the going was quite slow and once I arrived at the large rocks at the paseo, I decided to take a little break. But looking up, I noticed with horror the 15 foot tall flames right where the "fields" and paseo meet up, just below the park. So I turned to head home and tell Mom. Somehow at the ripe age of 7, I didn't have the presence of mind to just take the blasted skates off and book it home so it took me a solid 10 minutes to get there. Fortunately, Scott Kelsch had already noticed, called 911, and was trying to figure out how to lengthen their hose to put the fire out. It all ended well, nobody was hurt and no houses burned. That added a healthy dose of drama to our neighborhood.

 

The initial park was impressive by today's standards. The cable slide was so popular that it had the same effect that a trip to Disneyland has for most kids. We would wait in line for hours for a turn to ride down from the top of the hill to the sand pit. That first iteration of the slide was amazingly rustic. No hand rails for those waiting on the log that ascended to the platform, no rails around the platform, and a pretty good descent from the top of the hill. I loved that ride. But over the years, some people by bad luck or perhaps lack of care, managed to get themselves hurt. So the cable slide was downgraded several times over the years until finally they completely removed it from the park and replaced it with a 10 foot long, horizontal "slide". Boring. Perhaps there's a lesson in that story for us.

 

Dad helped finish off the sprinklers for the park one Saturday when it was new. I don't know whether there was some sort of community volunteer arrangement but it was pretty exciting to have our own park. A few years later, my soccer team would practice there on the upper grassy area some weeks when the other fields around town were not available. I think mom appreciated not having to haul me to Acorn Acres (was that what the soccer fields were called?) on those occasions.

 

After heavy rain, the sand pit at the park would sometimes fill with water which would stand for a few days. That brought a new level of interest from kids in the neighborhood because then we had a large pond to facilitate other playtime pursuits like boat races.

 

Maren:

I'm a little sad that we don't have any photos of the park.  I spent so much time there as a child.

 

The playground was in a large sand-filled area that was surrounded by grass, trees, and even a picnic bench or two.  The majority of the equipment was originally made out of logs.  There was a "two-story" metal slide on one end that also had a tire swing attached to it.  The pole holding up the tire swing was a good two-stories high, or so it seemed in my mind, and it could be swung in quite a large circle.  If you went too high, the swing would hit the post.  I vaguely remember the lazy squeaking noise it would make as we swung around.  That particular piece of equipment was good for playing pirate ship.

 

There was a smaller metal slide near the middle that had log stumps going up each side to create the steps to ascend to the top.  I believe both metal slides had a bar at the top so you could swing yourself a time of two before actually descending.  I'm not sure if we did this with the false idea that it made us go faster, but we often did it.

 

There was also a metal curly slide (why all the slides were metal, I'll never know.  Serious burning in the summertime could be caused by going down them.  One of the many safety hazards of the park), which was my personal favorite.  It could be a good hiding place and you could escape the person that was "It" in a game of tag pretty easily by climbing up the slide or going up the steps.

 

There were also swings that I enjoyed a lot, too.  I was never brave enough to do flips off of them, but I do remember swinging so high with the thought that if I could just get a little higher, I just might swing in a complete circle over the top.  It never happened.

 

There was also a triangular wall of old tires to climb, supported by logs.  This was one of my least favorite pieces of equipment.  The tires were just floppy and made it difficult to climb.  They got hot in the summer, too, and just smelled rubbery.  I'm pretty sure it was one of the least used pieces there. 

 

There was a brown metal horse on a spring that you could sit on and gallop.  Was there a second animal, too?

 

The merry-go-round was also another popular (yet incredibly dangerous) toy.  I'm not sure what animal it was supposed to represent.  It was yellow and orange, had antennae on it's head and seven or eight rungs to hold on to (for dear life) or to help push.  That thing could go fast, and I'm sure many a child got nauseated riding it.  The most coveted, and safest, spot on it was on the top of the head, between the antennae.  If you sat down lower, and if a merciless kid was pushing, you were sure to go flying off at some point.  To slow it down you could drag your foot in the sand. 

 

Speaking of which, that is how I cut my foot one time.  One Sunday afternoon, Cary and I snuck out of the house to go to the park.  I remember I was wearing my blue dress with white pinafore (the same dress I am wearing in my kindergarten photo, so I must have been about 4 or 5 years old) and no shoes.  I guess I played on the merry-go-round, and when I dragged my foot in the sand, it got cut by a piece of glass.  Cary and I went home to get some help with the blood.  I remember Marné trying to help me in the downstairs bathroom, likely to try and still hide it from Mom and Dad (we weren't supposed to go to the park on Sunday), but I guess the bleeding wouldn't stop, so I eventually had to be taken to the Emergency Room.  The doctor that stitched me up asked me if I wanted a button sewn on it, too.  I didn't think that was funny.  I still have the scar.

 

The zip line pretty much filled me with terror (bringing back these memories are making me realize that I was quite a coward).  The log that ascended to the platform alone was a massive challenge.  There were just notches cut out for your feet and you were supposed to tightrope walk up the log.  Every attempt I made ended up with me straddling the log midway up or crawling on my hands and knees.  Once up on the platform, I then had to summon enough courage to actually go down the zipline.  It was high and it went fast.  Rumor had it that several kids broke arms or legs falling off of it.  At one point it was lowered for safety reasons, with the notched log also replaced with a few stairs up to the platform, but then it was pretty useless because your feet would just drag in the sand, it was so low.

 

Much of the log equipment was replaced probably around the time I was in Jr. high or high school with more updated and "safe" structures.  It wasn't nearly as fun, though.

 

There was also space and poles for playing volleyball at the far end of the sandy area.  I don't remember a net being there much, or if there was one, it was pretty beat up.

 

There was a small hill leading up from the playground to the large field behind.  This was a good spot for kite flying and for watching fireworks on the 4th of July if we didn't want to bother with fighting the crowds and driving elsewhere.  The hills were just the right size for rolling down.  I'm feeling itchy just thinking about it.

 

The dirt trails were basically a large patch of undeveloped land.  I was also scared of rattlesnakes, as there were always plenty of snake holes that you could spot while passing through there.  It was mainly a fun place for the boys to ride their dirt bikes and do tricks.  I'm sure I rode my bike through there several times to get to the other side of the neighborhood and explore.  I even remember finding the white rocks there that could be used as chalk and we would draw on the sidewalk near the park or down the paseo.  According to Google Maps, in June of 2011, the dirt trails were being developed.  Street images show the area surrounded by chain link fence and construction equipment leveling dirt.

Dad:

When we first moved to Thousand Oaks, I remember herds of sheep in the dirt trails area with a sheepherder in his little "covered wagon". The grass, or more likely, weeds, apparently was a good pasture for sheep grazing. It was a great place for kids to explore, to hang out and to fire off rockets. I was somewhat sad when they started to develop the dirt trail area. There was a lot of dust in the air when they were grading, which seemed to go on for about 6 months or longer. But that was "progress" as many houses were jammed into that area.  

 

The park was a great area for picnics, barbecues, and kids to play. It was just a dirt field when we moved to Thousand Oaks. Eventually, the Parks and Recreation Department provided sprinkler supplies if volunteers in the neighborhood would provide the labor to install the sprinklers. Parks and Recreation planted the grass seed as I recall. I remember spending at least one Saturday (maybe two) helping to install the sprinklers. On a sad note, over the years, the park grounds kind of fell into a state of disrepair. The grass became weed infested  and the gophers moved in creating a lot of gopher holes and mounds of dirt. But it served the community well over the years that we lived on Rosewood Ct.

Mom:
I remember sitting on the rock at the paseo and talking to Barbara Kelsch and other neighbors while watching our children play in the cul-de-sac or on the grass at the paseo.  I remember the man that lived across the paseo got very angry and accused the boys of playing on the grass and killing the grass where they had "home plate" when they were playing baseball.  Actually the grass was killed by water that settled there after the rains or the sprinkler were on to water the grass.

 

For about 2 months Lila Staley and I would walk at 6 a.m. up or down the paseo and around the block for exercise.  We stopped when she went to work for the women in the 2nd ward who were making t-shirts with words appliquéd on them.  I also work for them for a short time doing sewing.

Everyone else has pretty well covered the park.  I remember Curtis and Corey riding their Big Green Machines up to the park and then forgetting them when they moved on to other places.   I had ridden a bicycle looking for them when I spotted the toys and tried to carry them home while also pushing the bicycle home and fell and injured my knee.  I then had to wear a soft cast on the knee for about a month.  I finally ditched it because it was too hard to walk down the stairs.

 

The dirt trails on the east side of Erbes Road was a favorite spot for the boys to go exploring and to get close to the sheep grazing on the hills.  Sadly, homes were eventually built there.  Cary and Alexis had a lemonade stand and took the wagon with lemonade and brownies, etc. and for a time had a good business going with the construction workers until a food truck driver told them that they were in his territory!  When Grandpa Judd came to visit he would walk with Curtis and Corey in the hills to go exploring with them.  We lost our "country" feeling when the houses were built.

Corey:
We spent nearly as much time on these trails as we did at the paseo. I remember a fire when I was really little at the edge of the trails, just above our paseo. Paul Bomb? Was that his name? I remember thinking he was the one who started it. I was always worried about rattle snakes on these trails and remember always trying to catch lizards. Curtis and I would ride our cool black bikes with yellow mag wheels down the hills. I remember jumping my bike on the jump some kids built in the far upper corner of the fields. And I remember some kid with the small motorcycle with a lawnmower engine. There was a metal drain pipe at the edge of the fields that always seemed spooky to me.