SIMI VALLEY : Wild West Is Alive at YMCA Fund-Raiser

Staged gunfights, a cavalry show, live bands and stagecoach rides drew Simi Valley back to the Wild West Saturday.

More than 2,000 people attended the fifth annual Simi Valley YMCA fund-raiser at Big Sky Ranch at the north end of Tapo Canyon Road. The ranch houses movie sets used for television shows such as “Gunsmoke” and “Little House on the Prairie.”

Jim King, executive director of the Simi Valley YMCA, said the open house has a new attraction this year--stagecoach rides.

“I liked it, but it was pretty bumpy,” said 4-year-old Katie Sulzbach.

Her father, Carl Sulzbach, said it was fun to see the sets he had seen on TV. “Part of the problem is that a lot of these kids are too young to appreciate it,” he said.

“I can still remember growing up and watching ‘Gunsmoke.’ ”

Most of the 400 YMCA volunteers wore Western clothes and many of the entertainers roamed the movie sets dressed in 1880s costumes.

“You feel like you’re right back in those days,” said Lois Cohen, 47, of Simi Valley as she watched two women in shawls and bonnets pass by.

Her husband, Fred Cohen, grunted and said, “I just came to see all this land before they put houses on it.”

The area that crowds tromped through is only a small part of the 9,000-acre ranch, King said. During the rest of the year, the ranch is closed to the public.

Big Sky Ranch is still used for location shooting and parts of it are also leased to cattlemen, King said.

In 1987 the owners, a group of real estate investors, volunteered the site for the YMCA’s annual fund-raiser, King said.

Last year the event raised about $15,000, and this year officials hope to hit $20,000, King said.

The event continues today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.