La Cañada History: At 15, Kate Hansen brings home the gold from the Junior World Luge Championships

Ten Years Ago

Kate Hansen, who later went on participate in the Olympics, returned to her hometown of La Cañada Flintridge 10 years ago this week with a couple of gold medals (singles and team score) from the 23rd Junior World Luge Championships held in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Twenty Years Ago

Lutheran Church in the Foothills was preparing 20 years ago this week to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The celebration, which was set to be held Feb. 22, 1998, would begin with a service at the American Legion Hall in La Crescenta, where the church held its earliest meetings. From a beginning membership of 63, Lutheran Church in the Foothills had grown to a congregation of 600 by the time its golden anniversary rolled around.

Thirty Years Ago

About one week after the death of Paradise Canyon Elementary School’s 16-year-old pet iguana, Zzyzx, teacher Robin Williams was suprised with the gift of Zzyzx II, purchased with voluntary contributions of sixth graders. Williams commented that the 18-inch-long replacement iguana looked “just like the first one did” as a youngster.

Forty Years Ago

Three youths who lived in the Angeles National Forest and attended La Cañada public schools were missing and presumed dead after the Hidden Springs area was washed out in a raging storm. The children involved were Lisa Smith, 8, a second grader at Oak Grove Elementary School; Amy Smith, 8, an Oak Grove first-grade student and Fred Hinterberg, a sophomore at La Cañada High School. Also on the list of missing persons were Delores Smith, the girls’ mother; Gabe Hinterberg, Fred’s father and George Scribner, a forest service ranger whose children also attended school in La Cañada.

Fifty Years Ago

La Cañada school board trustees awarded a contract for $737,000 to construct the new La Cañada Elementary School, which was necessitated by the pending lost of the existing school that sat where Memorial Park is today. The old school was to be demolished to enable the construction of the Foothill (210) Freeway overpass.

Sixty Years Ago

Mr. and Mrs. E. Richard Just of Descanso Drive were featured on the cover of the Feb. 13, 1958, issue of the Valley Sun in celebration of Valentine’s Day. The couple were looking forward to marking their 50th wedding anniversary in May of that year.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.