POWAY -- It was day of rides, slides and civic pride in Poway on Saturday as crowds lined the streets for a morning parade and gathered in Community Park for festivities that concluded with evening fireworks.

"Hi!" a young girl sitting on a Poway Road curb yelled to a man driving a tractor in the 40th annual Poway Days Heritage Parade. "I like your tractor!"

She didn't play favorites.

"Hi! I like your tractor!" she yelled to the next tractor. And the one after that, and the one after that.

The tractor brigade recalled Poway's early rural days, while the city's diversity was seen in the exotic Asian gowns worn by members of the Falun Dafa Association marching immediately ahead.

Nearby at Community Park after the parade, people danced to live music, relaxed in the sun, flew kites, slid on a giant inflatable slide, rode carnival rides and learned about their city's past, present and future.

Dena Fuentes, redevelopment director for Poway, was stationed throughout the day at a booth to collect people's thoughts about a planned town center.

"Our objective is to create a downtown main street that would be the heart of Poway," she said.

While Poway has a long history, it grew from one major road that is very busy and lined with shops and malls. Planners envision creating an area that will include Community Park and a new road that will parallel Poway Road between Poway Fun Bowl to the west and the Dixieline center to the east, Fuentes said.

The plan will be discussed in meetings at the Poway City Council at 10 a.m. Oct. 21 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 23, 24 and 25. For more information, call (858) 668-4550.

At Community Day, residents were asked to write their ideas on large sheets of paper at the booth, including what they wanted to see in Poway and what they did not want to see.

"Don't get rid of Fun Bowl," one person wrote. Other suggestions were: "More trees, greenbelt," "roller rink," "boutique restaurants," "place for teens," "conversation benches" and "hiking trails."

Actually, Poway already has several hiking trails, and Community Day visitors could learn how they could have a hand in keeping them up.

Bob Hahn, parks maintenance supervisor for Poway, said Community Day and Earth Day are the city's two best days for recruiting people into its adopt-a-trial and adopt-a-park program.

Hahn, who manned the booth at Community Day, ask people interested in helping to take care of the city's 18 parks to call him at (858) 668-4721. To adopt a trail, call Joan Steffan at (858) 748-6131.

Also at Community Day, Melody Kohl let people know about her new Web site, www.ILovePoway.com, which she said will feature everything from coupons that give residents restaurant discounts to free messages people can post if they've lost their dog.

Not everything at Community Day was just about Poway. Six bands played live music, dance and karate demonstrations were held, and various booths pitched insurance, dog-training, jewelry fitness and a new career as an at-home, online travel agent.

Poway High School's Future Farmers of America, which earned a first-place ribbon in the high school division for its parade float, operated a petting zoo at Community Day. The zoo included a 3-day-old goat that one little girl couldn't stop hugging.

"Now remember, he's not yours," the girl's mother said. "We're just visiting."

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.