Past Tense: Jan. 31, 2013
The Town Crier reported that lots of kids in town had chicken pox.
60 years ago – 1953
William Courtney, a Los Angeles attorney, addressed the Chamber of Commerce. He promised to tell “How to Keep the Government and a Wife on One Income.”
55 years ago – 1958
Bill Miller, president of the Chamber of Commerce, was chosen to dial the first call as Idyllwild switched to dial phones. The prefix for Idyllwild was OLive, “O” is the “6” key and “L” is the “5” key, i.e., “65-”
50 years ago – 1963
Skip Willhite of Mountain Center had an awful time. He fell while gathering turkey eggs, slipped a disc in his back and was bitten in three places on his arm by a black widow spider. He survived.
45 years ago – 1968
The mountain chickadee led as the most numerous species in the annual bird count. A total of 59 species were counted by the 16 people who took part in the annual Audubon Society’s winter census.
40 years ago – 1973
Ray and Virginia Garner entertained at their first open house in their new home, Xanadu, near Inspiration Point. A chamber music quartet played with Henri Temianka on first violin.
30 years ago – 1983
The County Road Department placed 25 signs on the Hill warning people not to park in snowplow routes. They were placed at nearly every road leaving Highway 243 from Mountain Center to Marion Ridge Road in Pine Cove.
25 years ago – 1988
Idyllwild’s Frank Ferro was chosen to play the lead male role in the Ramona Outdoor Play.
20 years ago – 1993
Dick and Beatrice Fellows were enjoying a quiet evening at home on Pine Crest Avenue, when high winds blew over a tree that smashed their truck.
15 years ago – 1998
Keeping up a family tradition, Rebecca Lynn Luna was Idyllwild’s first baby of the new year. Her first cousin, Isabella Rose Gioeli, was Idyllwild’s first baby of 1997.
10 years ago – 2003
Idyllwild’s soccer team, the Tidyll Waves, won their championship game. They became the 2003 AYSO Soccer Area N Champions.
5 years ago – 2008
The fledgling Idyllwild Fire Protection District Fire Cadet program was looking for teen applicants to train as future firefighters.
1 year ago – 2012
The Friends of the Idyllwild Library broke ground on the new library building in Strawberry Plaza.
