Donald Godbey of Hemet was “very impressed” to meet the “talking hairy beast” that staffed the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce booth at this year’s Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. The Idyll-Beast, a.k.a. David Jerome, hosted the Idyllwild booth for the entire Date Festival, which set record breaking attendance marks this year. The Idyllwild Chamber Booth was virtually near pandemonium with the availability of the popular Visitor Guides and multiple photo-ops for families and school groups with Idyll-Beast, according to Jerome. “Idyllwild is the only resort community represented at the fair this year,” the Beast reported.

The IDYTalk series featuring Idyllwild Arts Academy students returns at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, with Musical Theatre major Benjamin Biber speaking in person in the campus’ Krone Library to academy faculty and students, and on Zoom to everyone else. Ben and his family are long-time Idyllwild residents, and he has attended both the Idyllwild…