La Cañada History: John Muir High School students took archery class

Ten Years Ago

The city of La Cañada Flintridge formally dedicated the Hall Beckley Canyon Recreational Area, a five-acre parcel in the upper Palm Drive area that is accessed by openings at Jessen and La Sierra drives. The property was acquired from a private party for $770,000 after the owner was unable to gain approval for a home there.

Twenty Years Ago

Local preservationists were outraged to learn that a 78-year-old Craftsman home on Chehalem Road that had once been the home of Percy Johnson, La Cañada’s first superintendent of schools, was demolished by its new owners. The sellers, Johnson’s grandchildren, said they’d been led to believe the buyers would restore the house. Instead, the father-and-son team that purchased the property maintained that the original house was beyond saving and instead built two new homes on the land.

Thirty Years Ago

Ground-breaking ceremonies were planned for the first three custom homes that were to be built at the Greenridge development adjacent to La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.

Forty Years Ago

La Cañada resident Ross Belmonte, just a week from reaching his 100th birthday without ever having been hospitalized, had a small stroke that caused him to fall and fracture a rib. He held out until two days before the party, when he finally went to the hospital for treatment. He insisted the guests still come and enjoy the food ordered for the affair. After all, he said, the key to longevity is “to never miss a meal.”

Fifty Years Ago

Sue Ann Flippin, Cris Hansen and Susan Porter posed for the Valley Sun in the fall of 1963 during the archery class they were taking at John Muir High School. Although La Cañada High School had just opened its doors, seniors from this community were finishing their high school careers at Muir.

Sixty Years Ago

After eight months of study and controversy, the La Cañada school board voted unanimously to acquire through condemnation an 8.9-acre parcel belonging to Louise Avery on Palm Drive for a fourth elementary school site. Avery did not want to give up her property.

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