Saturday was designated Idyllwild Day at the County Fair and Date Festival. Idyllwild had a booth containing a chukker partridge and a ring-necked pheasant, plus samples of Pinecraft furniture.
60 years ago – 1953
Emsy Dunn’s class, studying California history, went panning for gold in Strawberry Creek. All the students found was pyrite, “fool’s gold.”
55 years ago – 1958
More than a million visitors had flocked to the San Jacinto Mountains in 1957, according to Ranger John Gilman. This represented a 25 percent increase in tourism over 1956.
50 years ago – 1963
R.R. Welch announced plans for about 120 acres in the Stone Creek area for recreational developments. About $26,000 was allocated in the State Park budget for improvements at the new Stone Creek acquisition.
45 years ago – 1968
The Mile-Hi Trap Club announced a “Bang-Up Breakfast,” to be held at its Mountain Center shooting range.
40 years ago – 1973
Idyllwild had a new author. “Burro Bill and Me” was released, written by beloved Edna Price. It was a lively reminiscence of her 10 years in Death Valley and the Arizona Strip with her late husband, Bill.
25 years ago – 1978
The first major snowstorm of the season dumped 10 inches of snow at Idyllwild County Park Visitor Center. It marked one of the latest “first snows” recorded in Idyllwild.
30 years ago – 1983
After being gone for 12 days, during which time a blizzard hit the Hill, a border collie, Abby, and cocker spaniel, Freckles, owned by Janet Fast and Gail Olsen, were found unharmed in the river bed at the foot of the Hill.
25 years ago – 1988
Mr. and Mrs. Edker Pope donated their home on Strawberry Creek in Fern Valley to the Elliott-Pope Preparatory School.
20 years ago – 1993
Hill resident Tim Millet received an award recognizing his dedication to the San Bernardino National Forest, San Jacinto Ranger District. Millet, a member of the Forest Service Volunteer Association, had donated more than 300 hours cleaning campground and picnic areas.
15 years ago – 1998
Pine Cove Property Owners Association members met with a Riverside County Transportation Department representative in hopes of finding a solution to the problem of snowplow berms blocking driveways.
10 years ago – 2003
Idyllwild teens Amye Scavarda and Katie Barnash brought home more than a dozen medals each from the Riverside County Academic Decathlon, won by Hemet High School for the fifth year in a row.
5 years ago – 2008
The first offical planning meeting for the Idyllwild Historic District was held at the Nature Center.
1 year ago – 2012
County Service Area 38 Advisory Committee members learned that the county didn’t appear to know the CSA’s boundaries. The county map omits about 40 properties in the Foster Lake area from the CSA as voted for in 1965.
