Long-time resident J. Lyle Cunningham, Arcadia Citizen of the Year in 1983 and former president of the Arcadia Rotary Club, died on December 15th at Methodist Hospital of natural causes. He was 82. Mr. Cunningham was actively involved in the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, the Arcadia Red Cross, the Church of the Good Shepherd and Arcadians for Arcadia.
Arcadia teachers are eligible for mini-grants of $100-300 under a program being implemented by the Arcadia Rotary Club. The program will provide funds to district teachers for special projects beginning in February. All teachers, from kindergarten to 12th grade, are eligible to apply.
First Avenue Junior High has been nominated as a 1990 California Distinguished School by the State Department of Education. First Avenue will be one of six schools in Los Angeles County to be so nominated.
A building contract for a senior citizens center has been awarded to Nationwide Construction of Downey. Groundbreaking is anticipated in three months. The center will be built on the triangular piece of land at the intersection of Holly Avenue and Campus and Huntington Drives across from the Chamber of Commerce.
Theresa Eskola, 63, head housekeeper at the 87-room Motel 6 across from the Santa Anita Park race track, is the first employee to work 25 years for the hotel chain. Her gifts included $2500 in $100 bills, a limousine ride and the day off. Photo.
Last year, Foothills Junior High students raised $800 for the Peace Corps to go to Lamotrek Atoll, Micronesia, an island in the South Pacific. The Peace Corps Partnership Program allows American schools, clubs and organizations to fund small projects, typically less than $1500. The money will be used to construct a basketball court.
Susan Clavey, the mother of Tanya Clavey (the 16-year old girl who died following a 400-foot plunge off the Santa Anita Canyon Road) asked the Arcadia City Council to close the road's gate at dusk to prevent further fatalities. The gate, normally locked at 10 PM, was unlocked when the accident occurred at 10:15 PM.
The 76 members of the Arcadia Fire Department raised $14,521 for victims of the Bay Area earthquake by giving up one shift of paid vacation time each. The money will be donated to Santa Cruz County through the Arcadia chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Arcadia Police Department's non-emergency business telephone numbers have been changed to the following: Front desk, 570-5150; Administrative offices, 574-5178; Investigation division, 574-5160. The change is due to the switch to Pacific Bell Centrex System which gives priority to emergency services in the event of an emergency.
The Automobile Club of Southern California will relocate its Temple City and Monrovia offices to its new facility at 420 East Huntington Drive, Arcadia, beginning October 16.
The Arcadia City Council has grounded a proposal that would have allowed hang glider pilots to land their grafts on an unused LA County floodplain in the north end of the city. The 30 pilots of the Mr. Wilson Soaring Society need a landing site because the one used for the last 8 years in Pasadena has been developed with the new Pasadena Rose Court homes.
Arthur Farr, 46, the band and orchestra leader at Dana Junior High School, has been named the Arcadia Unified School District's 1990 Teacher of the Year. Farr has been teaching band and orchestra at Dana for 23 years, as well as coaching the basketball team and teaching physical education. (NOTE: This article incorrectly identified him as "Allen", but the error was corrected in the issue of October 1.)
Arcadian Gary A. Lorden, professor of mathematics at the California Institute of Technology and a Caltech faculty member for 21 years, has been appointed the Institute's Vice President for Student Affairs.
Russell J. Ribb, former superintendent for the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District, has been named to serve as Arcadia's interim school superintendent. Elaine Boyce of the School Service of California, a Sacramento-based consulting firm, has been hired to recruit a new superintendent.
An application for state funds to make $8.5 million worth of repairs in 6 Arcadia schools is moving ahead. Funds for the repairs, from the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Program, a bond measure, have been exhausted. However, another bond issue, coming up in the June 1990 election, is expected to pass and provide money to continue the program.
Don Alcorn, a 20-year veteran of the Arcadia Police Department, has been named to the new post of Emergency Services Coordinator by the Arcadia City Council. Alcorn's job is to prepare an emergency plan that will cover any aspect of any possible disaster, from earthquake to fire to nuclear disaster.
Dr. Vance T. Peterson of Arcadia has been appointed vice-president for institutional advancement at Occidental College. Peterson will assume responsibility for Occidental's external relations program, including fundraising, alumni relations, public communications and community affairs.
An international businessman was abducted from his Arcadia home and later released the same evening after his abductors demanded he pay them $1 million. He was told that he would be contacted the next day with instructions about where to put the money, but no money has been paid. This is the first kidnapping of this type in Arcadia, although there have been four other kidnappings in the San Gabriel Valley since last October.