La Cañada History: Youngsters open Kool-Aid stand to raise money for classified ad

Ten Years Ago

An extended period of excessive heat, with daytime temperatures reaching as high as 112 degrees, was blamed for blown transformers and power outages throughout the city. “Everywhere has been without power,” a Southern California Edison spokesperson told a La Cañada reporter.

Twenty Years Ago

A funeral service was held at the La Cañada chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for Edmund J. Krause, a former two-time mayor of La Cañada Flintridge who passed away July 19, 1996 in St. George, Utah at the age of 94.

Thirty Years Ago

Neighbors of a property in the 4300 block of Oakwood Avenue successfully petitioned the city for help in convincing the homeowner to remove a homemade skateboard ramp whose use they deemed too noisy and an invasion of their privacy. The woman whose yard hosted the 40-foot-long, 12-foot high ramp was given until Jan. 1, 1987 to have it removed; until that time her son and his fellow skateboarders would have to comply with limited hours for its use or face financial penalties.

Forty Years Ago

Scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent up cheers as NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft landed on Mars on July 20, 1976. The celebration was capped by a congratulatory phone call from President Gerald Ford. A La Cañada man, Tom Young, was operations director for the Viking mission.

Fifty Years Ago

At the request of a woman living in the upper Ocean View Boulevard area served by the Glendale school district, the superintendent of La Cañada Unified School District asked Glendale school officials if there might be any interest in swapping areas. Specifically, it was proposed that section in the southwest portion of La Cañada Unified be given to Glendale in exchange for the area now known commonly as the “Sagebrush” neighborhood. But since most homeowners in both affected sections of the town said they were satisfied with the schools served by their respective districts, the idea of such a trade was abandoned.

Sixty Years Ago

Hoping to raise enough cash to take out a classified ad announcing his pet cat was lost, young Richard Loe opened a Kool-Aid stand in his Hampton Road neighborhood. Joining him were friends Terry Vander Hoeven and Robby McLinn. The boys reported with some dismay that although they achieved sales totaling $2.80 over their two-day enterprise, they netted a mere 50 cents.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.