Past Tense: May 17, 2012

Ed Sher, then 32, passed through Idyllwild in May of 1982 on his way via horseback from San Diego to West Virginia to visit his three children. File photo

Ed Sher, then 32, passed through Idyllwild in May of 1982 on his way via horseback from San Diego to West Virginia to visit his three children. File photo

60 years ago – 1952
A meeting was announced to consider school unification. Under the proposal, Idyllwild’s school would be combined with the Hemet-San Jacinto District.

50 years ago – 1962
Logging trucks started rolling in May Valley, where the Big Bear Timber Company began salvage operations on pines damaged by severe insect attack. About 4.5 million board-feet of lumber was to be cut.

40 years ago – 1972
Adults were only being charged $1.50 to watch “Blue Water, White Death” at the Rustic Theatre. Students were being charged $1 and children were charged $.75.

35 years ago – 1977
The Idyllwild Elementary School Parents Club sponsored a Pancake breakfast in Town Hall.

30 years ago – 1982
A fundraising spaghetti dinner for the Idyllwild Softball Association was scheduled for May 24.

25 years ago – 1987
For the third year in a row, Hill resident and potter David Salk received the “Award for Excellence” in ceramics at the La Quinta Art Festival.

20 years ago – 1992
At the RadioShack that used to be located in Strawberry Creek Square, cassette players were being sold for only $29.95 – and that was with $10 off.

15 years ago – 1997
A trio of angry parents complained about a school bus driver during the Hemet Unified School District board meeting. They criticized his behavior toward their teenage sons and daughters.

10 years ago – 2002
Riverside County Health Officer Gary Feldman announced that, due the shortage of antivenom nationwide, there wasn’t enough antivenom at any hospital to treat a single case of serious snake bite.

5 years ago – 2007
The Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced that he would seek the death penalty for Raymond Oyler, an arsonist responsible for the deaths of 5 U.S. Forest Sevice firefighters in October 2006.

1 year ago – 2011
The Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit and Sheriff’s Department conducted two rescues of PCT hikers, both having become debilitated as a result of dehydration.

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