La Cañada History: Local Camp Fire Girls gather for their 1958 Grand Council Fire in Oak Grove Park

Ten Years Ago

Droves of parents of young sluggers showed up in City Hall for a meeting of the City Council to protest a proposed batting cage ordinance to regulate such backyard facilities. One member of the public was quoted as saying an ordinance “would limit La Cañada youths’ ability to compete” in baseball and softball.

Twenty Years Ago

John Kelsey in early June 1998 was winding up a 34-year career as the head of choral music at La Cañada High School. He told the Valley Sun that working at that campus “with these wonderful young people has given me my greatest musical opportunities.”

Thirty Years Ago

Parents of La Cañada Unified School District students living in the Angeles National Forest urged the school board to reconsider its decision to move their children from Paradise Canyon Elementary School to the newly reopened Palm Crest Elementary begining in the fall of 1988, citing 30 extra minutes they would have to spend on the school bus each day. Eighteen elementary-age and nine high-school students lived in the forest that year and commuted into town for classes.

Forty Years Ago

An 18-year-old La Cañada resident was released from the hospital following her rescue from a 40-foot fall in the Angeles National Forest. Melissa Lemker suffered a broken arm and severe head laceration, but no concussion. She had to be air-lifted out of a steep gorge by sheriff’s helicopter.

Fifty Years Ago

The U.S. Navy Dept. announced that its USS Scorpion submarine, missing since May 22, 1968, had been officially declared lost and notified next of kin that all 99 crewmen on board were considered dead. One of the 12 officers on the submarine was Lt. (jg) John Charles Sweet, 25, of Chehalem Road in La Cañada.

Sixty Years Ago

More than 150 Camp Fire Girls gathered the evening of June 5, 1958, in Oak Grove Park for the most important ceremony of the year — their Grand Council Fire. Accompanied by flute and dressed in ceremonial gowns decorated with honor beads, the girls entered the event in a processional, each singing “Wo-He-Lo” and carrying a lighted flashlight.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.