La Cañada History: Descanso Gardens hosted Festival of Garden Lights

Ten Years Ago

A 2-year-old La Cañada girl was recovering after having been bitten by a rattlesnake in her backyard on a July day in 2003.

Twenty Years Ago

Thirty-two items including four handguns and several pieces of jewelry, carrying a total estimated value of $31,000, were stolen during the burglary of a Flintridge home.

Thirty Years Ago

The Horseless Carriage Club of Southern California and the Descanso Gardens Guild joined forces to present Concours Descanso. The 1983 event featured 100 vehicles dating from 1915 or earlier. Admission was $2.

Forty Years Ago

Three young men and a 19-year-old woman, all from La Crescenta, were arrested after a silent alarm was tripped at Jundt’s Pharmacy in Plaza de La Cañada. As deputies arrived at the scene they saw two of the men dropping down from the store’s ceiling, having gained access through an air-conditioning vent. Their cohorts were waiting in a car parked on Rinetti Lane.

Fifty Years Ago

Descanso Gardens was holding its annual Festival of Garden Lights, featuring unusual garden and landscape displays. Descanso remained open until 10 p.m. throughout the festival, allowing visitors to pick up ideas for outdoor lighting options they could use in their own gardens.

Sixty Years Ago

A La Cañada mother who was serving as a counselor at the Girl Scout Camp Singing Pines in the Angeles National Forest, reported that 150 girls were evacuated from the camp when a forest fire threatened the facility. The group moved to Chilao Flats, where they continued their outdoor camping experience for a few days, until receiving clearance from forest officials to return to their own facility.

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