La Cañada History: Paradise Canyon student donates hair toward wigs for cancer patients
Ten Years Ago
A Paradise Canyon Elementary School student, Abbey Coleman, then 9, donated 10 inches of her hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to be used in the creation of wigs for children and adults suffering from cancer. Abbey’s father, Craig Coleman, had succumbed a year earlier to cancer. “It’s good to give to other kids who don’t have hair, so they can feel better about themselves and don’t feel different,” Abbey told the Valley Sun.
Twenty Years Ago
A public memorial was set for Jan. 7, 1998, at Forest Lawn, Glendale for noted Los Angeles area radio personality Roger Barkley, one of La Cañada’s most beloved residents. From 1961 to 1986 Barkley worked aside radio co-host Al Lohman and was known locally not only for his sense of humor, but also for his extensive charitable efforts. He died of pancreatic cancer at City of Hope on Dec. 21, 1997.
Thirty Years Ago
A brief winter storm brought lightning, rain, hail, snow and strong, icy winds to La Cañada on Dec. 29, 1987. Workers on the city’s Rose Parade float entry, “Lovely Hula Hams,” found themselves dashing about the float’s decorating site scrambling to retrieve flowers that were blown about the area by wind gusts.
Forty Years Ago
Barbara Pieper, who for more than six years had taught social science at La Cañada High School and had served on the cityhood committee in the 1970s, became the first announced candidate in the March 1978 City Council election.
Fifty Years Ago
Two La Cañada households, one on Lasheart Drive and the other on Loma Vista Drive, reported to the area sheriff’s station that strings of colored Christmas lights were stolen from their frontyards in December 1967. The combined value of their losses was pegged at $21.
Sixty Years Ago
It was reported in late 1957 that the population of La Cañada for the first time in its history surpassed 16,000 and the number of dwelling units increased that year by 160, bringing the total number of homes to 5,286.
Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.
