La Cañada History: Students learned American Folk music

Ten Years Ago

Members of JPL Boy Scout Troop 509 were back in town after having finished a 22-mile day hike to the 14,494-foot summit of Mt. Whitney. After they reached the summit on that July day, they consumed a quick lunch. Snow then began falling, which they considered a good sign it was time to begin their descent.

Twenty Years Ago

The City Council in July 1994 approved a proposal from the Youth House (today known as the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge) to allow a 5K run to take place annually on Thanksgiving Day. In his presentation, Gary Mazziotti, then the Youth House executive director, told the council there would be a $10,000 cost associated with the event and asked the city to help. He was instructed to return that September with a breakdown of costs for the city’s consideration.

Thirty Years Ago

The Valley Sun reported in its July 19, 1984 issue that it had so far been a brutally uncomfortable summer in La Cañada, marked by excessive heat, smog and unusually high humidity levels. Starting on June 23 of that year, the daytime highs had soared past the 90-degree mark on 24 straight days.

Forty Years Ago

Local trail users were celebrating the opening of the Edison easement riding and hiking trail in July 1974. A ribbon-cutting event made the opening official and was held at the El Vago Drive trail crossing between Alta Canyada Road and La Cañada Boulevard. The ceremony was sponsored by the La Cañada Flintridge Trails Council.

Fifty Years Ago

The 1964 enrichment summer school program at La Cañada Unified’s Foothill Intermediate School was designed to “excite the pupil and make his classroom experience like an adventure into education,” according to Principal Tom Fine. About 530 students had signed up for the nongraded courses, which ranged from “American History Through Folk Music” to a NASA-endorsed space science seminar for grades 5-7 that featured talks by scientists from JPL, Caltech, North American Aviation Inc. and the Navy missile facility at Pt. Mugu.

Sixty Years Ago

It was announced that construction was expected to begin on or about Sept. 1, 1954 on the new “La Cañada Village” shopping center on the north side of Foothill Boulevard just east of Castle Road. The first project would be to build the largest store in the center, a Ralphs market (where Ross Dress for Less is today). The developers were Bear Investment Co.

-- Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.