Frank Ferro, center, plays Alessandro, the hero of the Ramona Pageant for the 61st annual production at the Ramona Bowl in Hemet in April 1988. Accompanying Ferro were Terry Gross as Ramona and Mary Lozano as Mara. File photo

65 years ago – 1948
The Town Crier reported that Editor Ernie Maxwell’s cat had five new kittens.

60 years ago – 1953
Sunset magazine featured an article about Idyllwild.

55 years ago – 1958
Actor David Niven stopped at Doro’s Market and visited for a while.

50 years ago – 1963
Five Orange County residents were killed when their Cessna Sky Hawk plane crashed in Anza Valley.

45 years ago – 1968
The U.S. Forest Service was directing logging operations on Santa Rosa Mountain to remove pines vulnerable to insect attack.

40 years ago – 1973
Mountain creeks were running strong as the largest snowpack in 20 years melted.

35 years ago – 1978
Suzanne Somers, star of the television hit, “Three’s Company,” spent two days in Idyllwild filming “Jack and the Princess,” a CBS Movie of the Week.

30 years ago – 1983
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors directed its administrative, planning, road and legal staffs to initiate a feasibility study of reduced road widths, standards and more restrictive grades to reflect the special weather conditions, resort character and safety needs of the local communities.

25 years ago – 1988
Community leaders and county officials led a well-attended Town Hall meeting on the formation of a Hill Municipal Advisory Council.
20 years ago – 1993

The fourth-annual Earth Fair was scheduled to be at Town Hall.

15 years ago – 1998
The Idyllwild Mountain Community Patrol was honored by three off-Hill government agencies. Hemet Unified School District recognized the group for patrolling Idyllwild School after reports of a stalker. The City of Palm Desert and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors both gave an award for graffiti removal.

10 years ago – 2003
The U.S. Forest Service was considering closing the forest because of the threat of wildfire in the parched mountains. The Hill’s moisture levels had set an all-time low.

5 years ago – 2008
Marshall Hawkins, embarked on a trip to Bremen, Germany, to participate in an international conference on jazz as an ambassador of jazz.

1 year ago – 2012
A major fire destroyed the Fern Valley home of Idyllwild businessman Shane Stewart.

Similar Posts

  • Past Tense: October 8, 2015

    65 years ago – 1950 The Fern Valley Lodge was selling “fine dinners” for only $1 per meal. 60 years ago – 1955 Hemet Unified School District provided a bus to take Idyllwild students to football games in Hemet. 55 years ago – 1960 Although the Forest Service had not declared the Keen Camp guard…

  • Past Tense: Nov. 27, 2012

    65 years ago – 1947 Game Warden Cliff Donham was double-crossed by the very squirrels he protected. When investigating his car’s lack of power, it was revealed that squirrels had been stuffing the exhaust pipe with acorns and nuts. 60 years ago – 1952 There was a flurry of new construction in the village. Next…

  • |

    Past Tense: November 12, 2020

    70 years ago – 1950U.S. Forest Service officials inspected the newly paved Banning-Idyllwild Highway before its acceptance into the national forest system. 65 years ago – 1955At a hearing before the County Board of Supervisors, a group of about 75 people demanded that the supervisors throw out all mountain zoning and place the resort area…

  • Past Tense: May 9, 2013

    65 years ago – 1948 Fern Valley Mutual Water Company installed a 420,000-gallon water tank on Strawberry Creek. 60 years ago – 1953 A record-breaking crowd of anglers hit the Hill for the opening of trout season. A crowd of 1,500 to 2,000 lined banks of Strawberry Creek shoulder-to-shoulder on opening day. 55 years ago…