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Published on 02/02/1998 All articles from this issue

Pages of the Past

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25 years ago in the Town Crier

As reported in the Feb. 14, 1973, issue of the Town Crier, on Feb. 3, 1973, Los Altos received .58 of an inch of rainfall, but three days later on Feb. 6, the town was drenched with 2.15 inches, bringing the total rainfall to that date to 22.93 inches. Normal rainfall to that date was 9.5 inches, according to local weatherman Edward Rexworthy.

The local school district's planned move from its former administration building on San Antonio Road and Hillview Avenue brought to light an assortment of surplus equipment and materials.

According to Business Manager Keith Vander Zyl, listed audio visual equipment and musical instruments were beyond reasonable repair. Viewers, 110 desks, scrub brushes, an oscilloscope, a rotary mower and an incinerator were up for sale. A 1953 Ford tractor and a 1957 Ford station wagon, hopefully attractive to sentimental buyers, were described as "far beyond reasonable use and cost of repair."

Ten Awalt High School students prepared to spend two weeks in March 1973 as exchange students at a Navajo boarding school at Fort Wayne, N. M. They were chosen on the basis of proven responsibility, favorable school and community service records and adaptability. Ten students from the reservation school were scheduled to follow their new-found friends for a two-week exchange at Awalt.

50 years ago in the Los Altos News

As reported in the Feb. 12, 1948, issue of the Los Altos News, the annual Founders' Day of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers was observed by the local PTA at its February meeting.

During the business meeting, the assembly voted to purchase $575 worth of audio-visual aid instruments for the use of the school. Workshops were meeting at the grammar school to train the teachers in the effective ways audio-visual education could be used in everyday classroom work.

The local Kiwanis Club, in conjunction with all other Kiwanis throughout the nation, was distributing the first of a series of pamphlets on the "American Way of Life." It was devoted to the number of comforts that Americans enjoyed in comparison to citizens of other countries.

According to the first pamphlet, in 1948 there was one car for every five Americans, but the average Frenchman would have had to pile 31 into each auto and the average Russian would have needed to crowd in 1,130 people. As another example of the affluence of Americans, the pamphlet noted that the United States boasted of 20 telephones for every 100 people.

- Ellen Shaw of the Los Altos History House Association