According to the Aug. 9, 1972, edition of the Town Crier, Dr. James S. Fitzgerald, former dean of instruction at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, was chosen as Foothill College’s third president in its 15-year history. The changeover became effective Jan. 1, 1973, when he succeeded retiring president Hugh H. Semans.
Foothill Community College District trustees adopted the final draft of the 1972-73 fiscal year’s budget of $19.25 million. It meant a hike of 2.2 cents per $100 assessed valuation over the previous year. An increase of $3 million over the existing budget was based on a 3.2 percent across-the-board, cost-of-living hike. Enrollment was projected at 16,135 for 1972-73, an increase of 5.6 percent.
Los Altos resident Sally Perham was one of 76 Girl Scouts from throughout the United States who attended the “Recall the Riches-Restore the Ruins,” event July 25 through Aug. 8, 1972, in Colorado. The purpose of the adventure was to give the girls first-hand knowledge and appreciation of ghost towns and history.
They were given the opportunity to work on restoration projects from cataloging graves in the cemetery to cataloging costumes in the opera house, and they were encouraged to assist in similar projects in their home communities.
50 years ago in the Los Altos News
In the Aug. 7, 1947, issue of the Los Altos News, Libby, McNeil and Libby advertised for women to register immediately for work beginning Aug. 4 in its fruit-salad pack division. They were offered $1 per hour with 10-hour shifts plus 5 cents per hour more for all night work. Time and one-half were effective after eight hours.
The offer cited Libby’s “ultra-modern conveniences” and its cafeteria in its new plant at the corner of Mathilda and Evelyn in Sunnyvale.
With one blimp already on its way to the East Coast base at Lakehurst, New Jersey, removal of all lighter-than-air craft from Moffett Field was expected to be completed by the end of August 1947. Moffett Field became a dead storage for enough deflated blimps and blimp equipment to form a small nucleus for a blimp squadron, should it be suddenly needed.
The number, type and size of heavy aircraft that could be moved to Moffett was still under study.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors began action aimed at small water companies, hopefully preventing future outbreaks of typhoid. The action also applied to motels, trailer parks and labor camps. Ten large water companies in the county were functioning under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission.
– Ellen Shaw of the Los Altos History House Association
