

Mountain Folk: Opliger then and now
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Brandon Opliger (son of Rocky Opliger, retired US Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest) in the left photo, taken approximately in 1989. Opliger was in an IFPD engine. His mother Lori (Friemoth) Richter worked for IFPD and Brandon was four or five years old. The right-hand photo is Brandon now, age 26, employed with the U.S. Forest Service, Cleveland National Forest, on the Palomar Hotshot Crew, out of Oak Grove Station. Photos courtesy of Lori (Friemoth) Richter

Mark D. Smith is Idyllwild’s new postmaster and follows a proud tradition dating back when Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster of the United States. Smith replaces Ray Wilson, who retired in June. In 2011, Smith began his postal career as the postmaster relief in Donald, Oregon. He was promoted to postmaster in Marylhurst, Oregon…
Marc Kassouf, full-time Idyllwild resident and owner of the Stay Idyllwild Group of inns (Quiet Creek Inn and Strawberry Creek Inn), has been elected to the governing board of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International. PAII is a national professional organization with more than 800 members representing inns, bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels, vendors, associations…
Pine Cove resident and Idyllwild Town Crier Correspondent Debra A. Varnado has been awarded an all-expenses-paid 2019 California Fellowship from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. Each year, the center trains competitively selected professional journalists to participate in workshops, seminars and field trips, and to receive a stipend to defray costs associated with an…
Thirty-six mountain folk and a well-behaved service dog traveled on a Town Hall Recreation bus outing to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday, Jan. 21. Recreation Manager GeGe Beagle and Amy Righetti accompanied the group. As the trip was winding down, Beagle, in true hostess fashion, passed through the cabin passing out mints…
Richelle Gribble was invited to present her topic, “What is our Role Within a Networked Society?” at the TEDxTrousdale event. Her presentation describes the ways that connection mobilizes change within communities through the ripple effect and our inherent desire to be a part of something larger than ourselves. Gribble grew up in Idyllwild, attended Idyllwild…
odern Dance BFA and Communication BA, was named to University of Utah’s Spring 2020 Dean’s List. To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must earn a GPA of 3.5 or higher in at least 12 graded credit hours during any one term. Have a Mountain Folk story? Email it to Melissa Diaz Hernandez at…