10,20,30, 40 and 50 Years Ago in La Canada

Ten Years Ago …

A crowd estimated at 8,000 saluted and cheered as the 23rd annual Fiesta Days Parade moved eastward on Foothill Boulevard on Memorial Day 1996.

Twenty Years Ago …

After accepting the position of head football coach at La Cañada High School, Jim Wright of Florence High in Arizona notified athletic director Dan Brown he had changed his mind, due to housing costs here and the big job of moving his family. Meanwhile, spring football practice began at LCHS with assistant coach Mike Reno in charge.

Thirty Years Ago …

“Skyrocket ‘76” was the theme for Oak Grove School’s final paper drive of the year. Newspapers, magazines and telephone books were accepted in the school’s parking lot on the first Saturday of June 1976. IBM tab cards and computer read-out papers were also sought for the fund-raising event.

Forty Years Ago …

Many prominent La Cañada residents joined state and county officials in celebrating the opening of Descanso Gardens’ new teahouse. The Descanso Guild, under the direction of its president, Mrs. Judge Smith, raised the money needed to construct the building. Mrs. Edmund G. Brown, wife of California’s governor, was one of the celebrants.

Fifty Years Ago …

Sonita, a 4-year-old India elephant owned by Charlie Franks, was featured on the cover of the La Cañada Valley Sun on May 31, 1956. She was practicing tricks on the Spalding land (today the site of La Cañada High School), to the delight of students at the adjacent Oak Grove Elementary School.

— Compiled by Carol Cormaci