Johnny Washbrook made many personal appearances—especially throughout California—during the heyday of the My Friend Flicka series.  Among them was an autograph signing he attended with his mother and older brother Don in 1956 on the stage at Belmont Park—the large amusement park on the beach at Mission Beach in San Diego. 

He shook hands with each in the long line of other kids who paraded up onto the stage to meet the boy they secretly wished they could be.  He flashed his famous smile, asked their name, and gave them a small photo of himself and Flicka with a preprinted autograph on it, as a souvenir of their meeting.  He wore his trademark shirt, brown corduroy trousers and brown cowboy hat.  Afterward was perhaps the best part for him, for he got to walk through the amusement park with his mother and brother, riding the bumper cars and enjoying the other rides and amusements.  The Belmont Park stage itself is but a memory now, and the whole park got a modern transformation a couple of decades ago, but the historic roller coaster and the Mission Beach Plunge are still there (the stage was across from the main entrance to the Plunge, with its back to the boardwalk).

Later that year, Johnny was proud to be Honorary Grand Marshal of the 10th Annual Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon, California.  In fact, he apparently set a standard for celebrities in the famous parade.  Before that, the Grand Marshals were military officers, but soon afterward a galaxy of well-known stars who relate to children began to headline the parade, and the tradition continues to this day.  The Mother Goose Parade is the largest parade in San Diego County, and the largest of its type west of the Mississippi.  Each year—on the Sunday before Thanksgiving—thousands of spectators converge on the streets of El Cajon to view the famous parade.

A list of all of his personal appearances is too large to list here, but this gives you a sample of the interesting and fun events in which he got to participate, in helping to publicize the series (no doubt a lot of driving for his parents, though).