SIMI VALLEY : First Lady Leads Teen-Agers on Tour

Nancy Reagan led a group of Ventura County teen-agers through the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Monday, stopping at times to reflect on her old red station wagon and the frustrations of Hollywood typecasting.

The free tour was arranged by the Kiwanis Club of Moorpark in what is planned to be a continuing effort to bring students from Southern California to the library. Many of the 100 teen-agers in attendance are active in high school Key Clubs, the junior organization of Kiwanis.

After a brief talk by Reagan, Moorpark club President James Jackson and other Kiwanis dignitaries and 30 teen-agers who had been chosen by lottery were escorted through the library by the former First Lady. Other students were directed by library staff.

Passing through a courtyard on the way to the library’s historical exhibits, Reagan commented on the red Ford Ranch Wagon parked outside, which she bought in the late 1960s and which was donated to the library by a subsequent owner.

“That’s the station wagon I was talking about,” she said. “See how big it was in the back. Boy, we could get lots in there, and we did.”

Once inside the library, Reagan talked about her campaign against drug abuse, her travels throughout the country and what it was like to be an actress for MGM, “Metro” she called it.

“This is all my movie days,” Mrs. Reagan said, standing before a wall of promotional film posters and photographs of herself and other stars.

“I was always cast as the married woman, usually pregnant, in the kitchen,” the former First Lady said. “And that was fine. But I wanted to do other parts too.”

While discussing one exhibit on her early childhood, Reagan was partially drowned out by a nearby television display celebrating her public life.

“With her quiet combination of femininity and fortitude,” the television narrator boomed, “Nancy Reagan established herself as one of the most respected women in America.”

“She’s very soft-spoken, so it was a little hard to hear,” said Karissa Lee, 15, a sophomore at Moorpark High School and a member of the school’s Key Club. “But she carries herself well.”