Monrovia Recorder Consort performed at Descanso Gardens

Ten Years Ago

A $259,000 outdoor science lab at La Cañada Elementary School was completed on budget. A 24-member steering committee led by Kathy Trueblood and Mary Pinola had spent three years planning and raising community funds for the project.

Twenty Years Ago

About 400 people turned out at St. Bede Church to pay their respects during the funeral of the well-respected longtime local florist Eiji Tomita, who died at the age of 78. He had retired in 1982, but his wife, Hannah, and their daughter, Lisa, carried on his tradition at Eiji’s Florist in La Cañada.

Thirty Years Ago

The La Cañada High School Spartan Boosters Club in the summer of 1982 held an “International Film Fair” event at a Flintridge-area home featuring short films, dinner and refreshments. Proceeds raised during the event were earmarked for activities at the school the following year.

Forty Years Ago

The Monrovia Recorder Consort presented a free concert on the main lawn at Descanso Gardens. The group was directed by Hans Bender, formerly the first violinist of the Heidelberg Bach Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Fifty Years Ago

A pilot who made several low passes over homes near the La Cañada Country Club and its golf course, coming within 20 feet of the ground during several runs, was reprimanded by local law enforcement officials. He was easily identified, as the plane’s registration number was visible on the wing and the pilot’s name, Cliff Winters, was printed on the side of the fuselage. Winters, a stunt pilot, died two months later after a maneuver failed during an air show in Chino.

Sixty Years Ago

A young mother who lived on Baptiste Way called for help when her 3-year-old daughter got her head caught between the seat and arm of a child-size rocking chair. A crowd gathered when rescuers from the local fire station raced to the scene, sirens blaring. A successful rescue was achieved when the arm was sawed off the chair. The mother commented later that she had no idea her call would result in such a neighborhood commotion.