La Cañada History: Fire crews knock down electrical blaze; community honors ‘Mrs. La Cañada’

Ten Years Ago

An early morning electrical fire broke out at Palace Cleaners in the 2100 block of Foothill Boulevard near the Ross Dress for Less store. Although responding firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the cleaning business only and knocked it down in 15 minutes, total damages there were estimated at $675,000, including the structure and its contents.

Twenty Years Ago

Inducted into La Cañada High School’s athletic hall of fame in January 1996 were Kris Puttler (1988), Chris Jones (1989) and Billy Koury (1989). Following custom, the induction ceremony was held in the school gymnasium the same night as a Spartan home basketball game.

Thirty Years Ago

Members of the Public Safety Commission, on learning one of the fire engine companies at Los Angeles County Fire Station 82 in La Cañada Flintridge was to be removed from service for a four-month period due to county budget cuts, pushed City Hall officials to set up a face-to-face meeting with the county fire chief to ask for its return as soon as possible.

Forty Years Ago

La Cañada Country Club officials reported to the local sheriff’s station that two of the greens on its golf course had been destroyed by someone driving a car over them. The incident occurred on a Friday night and was discovered by the course maintenance manager the following morning.

Fifty Years Ago

George Jundt, owner of Jundt’s Pharmacy, then operating in a shopping center that stood approximately where McDonald’s is today, prepared his store’s 100,000th prescription for a customer living in the Meadow Grove area of town. When Mrs. S. Bartley Cannell walked into the drugstore to pick it up for her husband, Jundt gave it to her at no charge to mark the occasion. When the shopping center was facing closure to make way for the Foothill (210) Freeway, Jundt moved his pharmacy to the new Plaza de La Cañada. A Rite-Aid now occupies the former Jundt location in the plaza, on Foothill Boulevard at Oakwood Avenue.

Sixty Years Ago

About 150 members of the community attended a banquet at the Youth House to pay tribute to “Mrs. La Cañada,” Harriet McGregor, on her retirement as executive secretary of the La Cañada Valley Chest and Welfare Council. McGregor took the post in 1945 just after completing wartime service at Lockheed, where she had run a drill press. At the party marking her retirement, she was gifted with a television set and a sterling bracelet.

Compiled by the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci