Mayors’ park plaques engraved in history

Caden Feehan stood wide-eyed as his “nana,” Joan Feehan pointed out her name on the new wall of bronze plaques at the La Cañada Mayors’ Discovery Park. The 3-year-old wasn’t quite sure why his grandmother’s name was up there, but he said he was really proud of her and he plans to show his friends the plaque someday, when he’s older.

Joan Feehan is one of 12 former La Cañada Flintridge mayors honored with plaques on the wall, which were formally unveiled during a dedication ceremony Oct. 18. Several of the former mayors were on hand for the city-hosted event, a La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce mixer.

“This is just so surreal,” Feehan said of seeing her name forever emblazoned in bronze. “You go to places all your life and see people’s names on monuments, and then all of the sudden there you are.”

Feehan said she’s happy to take her place in La Cañada Flintridge history. “I’m so glad for the little children. They’ll have an identification with the city, and they can say ‘that was my grandma.’”

The concept of adding the mayors’ names to the park was conceived about one year ago by longtime La Cañada resident Margaret Pankratz and a committee composed of her friends, Joy Gifford, Maxine Reilly, Pat Anderson and Joy Wilson. Pankratz has long been involved in several civic capacities and also was an instigator of naming the park, about three years ago. “I just felt like this was something that needed to be done,” Pankratz previously said. “This is really important, and so meaningful.”

Several community groups and individuals funded the plaques, Pankratz said.

Maryann McCann, president elect of the La Cañada Flintridge Rotary Club, is proud her group was one of the organizations responsible for funding the project. “The Rotary gave a substantial donation, as did the La Cañada Kiwanis Club. This was an important project, so we were all working together,” she said.

Honored on the 4-inch-by-8-inch plaques are: George Parrish; O. Warren Hillgren; Michael Mount; Edmund “Ed” Krause; Barbara Pieper; Thomas Curtis; J. Bixby Smith; Joan Feehan; John “Jack” Hastings; James Edwards; Carol Liu; and Anthony Portantino.

Mayor Dave Spence served as master of ceremonies for the evening. Spence credits the former mayors with making the city what it is today. “You’re looking at people, most of whom came before me,” he said pointing to the seated handful of former mayors who attended the ceremony. “They just did a phenomenal job.”