La Cañada History: 2 kids convince City Hall to set aside hours at skate park for BMX enthusiasts

Ten Years Ago

La Cañadans Josh Stroud, 12, and his friend Jordan Lawrence, 13, were having a hard time finding a good BMX park. They turned to City Hall, where they found sympathetic ears at the Parks and Recreation Commission. By September 2008, a trial run that involved opening the park for BMX-only hours a few days a week was underway and the boys were there to try it out. “It feels good,” Jordan told a reporter.

Twenty Years Ago

The La Cañada Junior Women’s Club presented the fire stations in La Cañada (Stations 82 and 19) with an $18,000 thermal imaging camera to assist in finding victims in smoke-filled conditions.

Thirty Years Ago

Anne Kursinski, who trained at Flintridge Riding Club, was a member of the U.S. Equestrian Show Jumping Team that captured a silver medal in the XXIV Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The 1988 Summer Games opened Sept. 17 and closed Oct. 2.

Forty Years Ago

A knife-wielding man attempted to kidnap a 22-year-old female Sport Chalet employee who was preparing to drive home after the store closed one evening. She escaped his attempt after using her feet to shove him out of her car. She then screamed and ran toward a young man she spotted walking toward the parking lot from the store. The man who had accosted her escaped.

Fifty Years Ago

Grading work began at the site of the new $100,000 education building at St. George’s Episcopal Church. The new structure, which would provided eight large Sunday school classrooms, was expected to be ready for occupancy by April 1969.

Sixty Years Ago

When queried by members of the La Cañada Chamber of Commerce concerned about the potential for local brush fires, the manager of Valley Water Co. said water lines specifically for fire protection could not be laid in vacant areas of Flintridge for economic reasons.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.