On the evening of Oct. 22, Olberz Park held live music, an inflatable obstacle course and a scavenger hunt. The prize for finishing the hunt was a limited-edition LCF50 picnic blanket. According to the La Cañada Outlook's preview, representatives on hand in front of City Hall came from the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge, Lanterman House, the YMCA of the Foothills, the La Cañada Flintridge Trails Council, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association and others.
That event was the city's official 50th-anniversary celebration. The anniversary itself has not arrived yet. La Cañada Flintridge incorporated on Dec. 8, 1976, so the actual birthday is a Tuesday about six weeks away.
Most of what fills those weeks is run by the same organizations that sent people to the party. Their events follow a short route: from the Town Center, west along Foothill Boulevard to a historic house on Encinas Drive, and finally to a float barn on Hampton Road.
The city's page is now a gallery
The city's Together for 50 Years hub bills itself as "the central hub for anniversary programs, community initiatives, special events and updates throughout the year." Right now it mostly looks back. It carries photos from the Oct. 22 celebration and a gallery of local history. The gallery includes the Horse Lane Trail, the Valley Water Company's main pumping plant from 1925, businesses at the Plaza de La Cañada in the 1970s, and the first City Council swearing-in in 1977.
One citywide program is still running: "50 Trees for 50 Years." The city plans to plant 50 trees during the anniversary year, and residents can request one of them for the public right-of-way in front of their home.
The hub lists no ceremony for Dec. 8 itself. The anniversary events scheduled in the weeks around that date come from the organizations below.
Thanksgiving morning, back at Olberz Park
The largest gathering after the party returns to the same lawn. The Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge holds its 33rd Annual Thanksgiving Day Run & Food Drive at Olberz Park on Nov. 26, together with the city. Warmup for the adult 5K run/walk starts at 7:45 a.m. and the race at 8:15 a.m. The Kids' Mile follows, with warmup at 9:10 a.m. and the start at 9:30 a.m.
According to the city's event page, the run is also the Community Center's biggest fundraiser of the year. Registration and donations go through the Community Center's run page.
That morning, these streets close completely:
- Foothill Boulevard, from Loma Vista Drive to Gould Avenue
- Angeles Crest Highway south of Town Center Drive, with no access to Valley Sun Lane
- Civic Center Drive
- Town Center Drive, from the southwest corner of Olberz Park to the roundabout
- Cornishon Drive, from the FIS lower field to Foothill Boulevard
Access to the Town Center parking lot near Panera and HomeGoods changes to one way in and one way out. If you're shopping on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, plan for it.
West along Foothill: one block, two weekends
The next stretch of the calendar runs along a short section of Foothill Boulevard that holds three neighbors. The farmers market sits across from Memorial Park. The La Cañada Congregational Church is at 1200 Foothill Blvd. Lanterman House is a short distance away at 4420 Encinas Drive.
The Saturday La Cañada Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Nov. 7, the city's Public Works Department will hand out free bagged compost, vegetable seeds and compost pails at its market booth while supplies last. On Monday, Nov. 9, the department holds organics-recycling workshops at City Hall: one for businesses at 10 a.m. and one for residents at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, Lanterman House opens the first of its three late-year events. Board president Greg Brown gives "Tid-Bits and Skeletons: Secrets of the Lanterman Family," a talk on the family's genealogy and what he has found researching it. It runs from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Lanterman Visitor Center.
Almost four weeks later, Memorial Park at 1301 Foothill Blvd. hosts the city's Festival in Lights on Friday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The festival features stained-glass-style art, shimmering light installations and interactive pieces.
Lanterman House asks event guests to park at the Congregational Church and not on Encinas Drive. Handicap parking is available at the house. That is why the house and this block of Foothill work as one destination.
December 6: The town's story, two days before the birthday
This is the event on the calendar most closely tied to the anniversary. On Sunday, Dec. 6, from 2 to 3 p.m., Lanterman House archivist Julie Yamashita introduces her new book, Becoming 91011: The Story of La Cañada Flintridge. Lanterman House describes the book as several years in the making. Her talk covers the story behind the book and how the community "came together over the past 50 years to become the La Cañada Flintridge we know today."
The timing is close. Yamashita's talk falls two days before the city turns 50, and it is the only scheduled public program about how the city came to be. The city's gallery shows the 1977 swearing-in. The book tells how La Cañada Flintridge got there.
Lanterman lectures are free, and seats go first come, first served. On a Sunday afternoon close to the anniversary, that is a good reason to arrive early. The house's last event of the year follows on Saturday, Dec. 12: a Holiday Market Place with local vendors and an open house, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Hampton Road: The year ends behind a 1925 pumping plant
The last stop on the route is a building already in the city's history gallery. The Valley Water Company's main pumping plant, photographed in 1925, is one of the oldest images on the anniversary hub. The La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association builds its float on a site behind Valley Water Company at 4524 Hampton Road. Its "Under the Bridge" decorating site is at 4510 Hampton Road.
The entry for the Jan. 1, 2027 Rose Parade is called "EVeryone is EVited!" The Outlook reported that the design shows animals from around the world at a science fair:
"On the front satellite a Bald Eagle and Toucan are working on explosive results with their classic baking soda and vinegar volcano."
On the main float, a sloth pedals faster as the crowd gets louder, which raises a Tesla coil behind a lion. According to the same article, both the float's propulsion and its animation system will be fully electric and quiet. That would make it the only electrified float, after two years of work. Hydraulics Controls is donating labor and materials for the conversion. The 2027 parade theme is "Welcome."
At the anniversary party, Mayor Jeanne Kim Hobson invited residents to "share what they love about our city and look ahead to the next 50 years," in the Outlook's account. The float is not billed as an anniversary tribute. Still, the final days of the city's 50th year will be spent decorating a quiet, self-built electric float behind a 1925 pumping plant.
The association's decorating shifts are open:
| Dates | Shift times |
|---|---|
| Dec. 20, 22, 23 | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Dec. 26 to 30 | 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; 1 to 6 p.m.; 5:30 to 10 p.m. |
| Dec. 30 only | Late-night overnight shift |
| Dec. 31 | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
The overnight start time on Dec. 30 is listed differently in different places, so check the association's decorating sign-up before booking.
The roadwork running through all of it
The whole season overlaps with the city's annual street resurfacing. Public Works is grinding and repaving 13 street segments, 3.92 miles in total, from Oct. 26, 2026 to an expected finish of Jan. 8, 2027. Residents should expect partial closures and limited street parking, and new striping follows within two weeks of paving. The longest segment is Georgian Road, from Woodleigh Lane to Foothill Boulevard, at 0.85 mile. Houseman Street between Indianola Way and Hampton Road is also on the full list.
Two more dates for the same weeks. The city's Hillard Avenue safety project, covering the stretch from Foothill Boulevard to Fairmount Avenue, has a community meeting on updated design concepts on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. Free curbside bulky-item pickup runs the week of Nov. 16, on each household's regular collection day.
The rest of the 50th year, in order
- Nov. 7: Free compost giveaway at the farmers market
- Nov. 8: "Tid-Bits and Skeletons" at Lanterman House, 2 p.m.
- Nov. 26: Thanksgiving Day 5K at Olberz Park, 8:15 a.m.
- Dec. 4: Festival in Lights at Memorial Park, 4 p.m.
- Dec. 6: Becoming 91011 lecture at Lanterman House, 2 p.m.
- Dec. 8: The city's 50th anniversary of incorporation
- Dec. 12: Lanterman Holiday Market Place, 1 p.m.
- Dec. 20 to 31: Float decorating on Hampton Road
Many of the homes and blocks in this city carry history like that 1925 pumping plant, from when they were built to how their streets were laid out. If you're weighing what that history means for a house you own or are thinking about buying, Hopeway Realty Group is glad to go through it with you. Schedule a consultation.
