La Cañada History: Spartan Marching Band prepares for trip to Dublin for 1988 St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Ten Years Ago

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced its Crescenta Valley station would be welcoming a new captain due to the pending March 31, 2008, retirement of Capt. Tim Peters. Stepping into Peters’ shoes was David Silversparre, a local resident who said returning to the station he’d first served at in 1973 as an Explorer was “like a dream come true.”

Twenty Years Ago

After decades of sometimes heated debate among La Cañada citizens, it was decided that the section of the city north of Foothill Boulevard, from Gould Avenue eastward to Oak Grove Drive would get sewers. Sewer Assessment District No. 1 was approved by property owners with in the district, with 76% of them in favor of the project. “Hallelujah,” said Paulette Place resident Angelo Buffalino, who had worked with neighbor Ralph Lipscomb to see the assessment approved by voters and the district formed.

Thirty Years Ago

The La Cañada High School Spartan Marching Band and its auxiliary teams were “thinking green” as they prepared to travel to Dublin, Ireland, to take part in the Millennium St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The students raised $30,000 for the trip from family members, friends and community groups, including the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada.

Forty Years Ago

A resolution was passed by the La Cañada Flintridge City Council to rename Triangle Park on Angeles Crest Highway. The move, which dubbed the small green space Glenola Park, was in honor of its neighboring resident Nola Dolberg and her late husband, Glenn, for their many outstanding years of public service dedicated to town beautification projects. Nola Luxford Dolberg, a native of New Zealand who moved to the U.S. in 1919, had gained fame first as a silent film actress and later as a writer and radio broadcaster.

Fifty Years Ago

Ralphs markets were celebrating the company’s 95th anniversary with “The Big Change to Lower Prices” promotion throughout the chain, including its location in La Caada. Among the items advertised were two heads of iceberg lettuce for 25 cents, 10 pounds of Idaho russet potatoes for 37 cents and 8 pounds of Valencia oranges for $1. Sweetening the deal, Ralphs offered Blue Chip savings stamps with every purchase. When customers collected enough stamps to fill booklets included with the program, they could trade them in for a variety of home goods, as they could with S&H Green Stamps offered at other retailers.

Sixty Years Ago

A concrete deck over the Hay Canyon flood control channel on Cornishon Avenue was nearing completion in March 1958. When done, a roadway connecting Cornishon to Descanso Drive would be built. The county promised it would also close the upper end of Cornishon at Foothill Boulevard, either permanently or during school hours at the then-operating La Cañada Junior High School.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.