Past Tense: June 27, 2013
65 years ago – 1948
Movie star Tim Holt was in town with a film company shooting a western picture in Garner Valley. He brought his favorite movie horse, Lightning, for the film shooting.
60 years ago – 1953
Four children — Earlene Dick, Jimmy Johnson, Gary Anderson and Arty Yates — comprised the graduating class at the local school.
55 years ago – 1958
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Minnich returned to Cow Bell Alley after a 10,000-mile jaunt across the country.
50 years ago – 1963
The first car moved up cables to the Long Valley station of the $8.1-million Palm Springs Aerial Tramway project.
45 years ago – 1968
The Olympic-sized swimming pool on the campus of Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts was opened to the public.
40 years ago – 1973
Local Boy Scout Troop 50, along with 16 more units from the California Inland Empire Council, set up practice camp at Camp Emerson. They were preparing for a trip to Idaho where 40,000 Scouts would assemble for the Jamboree.
35 years ago – 1978
Bill Whitener, Idyllwild County Water District general manager, announced that local property tax revenue would fall 60 percent next year due to the passage of Proposition 13.
30 years ago – 1983
Plans for the upcoming July Fourth holiday weekend were being made all over the Hill. Festivities would include the Idyllwild Garden Club’s flower show, the American Legion’s Deep Pit Barbecue, an Idyllwild Lion’s Club pancake breakfast, an Ecology Fair at Town Hall, a fine arts show at a local church and a concert in the Idyllwild Pines Amphitheatre.
25 years ago – 1988
At an autograph party, Ernie Maxwell, founding publisher and editor of the Town Crier, was signing copies of his new book, “Pictorial History of the San Jacinto Mountains.”
20 years ago – 1993
Hemet High graduated nine Hill students. More than $9,000 in scholarships were given to these local students.
15 years ago – 1998
The Fern Valley Water District board decided not to consider a joint allocation of stream resources within its permitted water rights.
10 years ago – 2003
Due to near-normal rainfall, Foster Lake, Idyllwild Water District’s reservoir, was at 20 feet and full for the first time in five years.
5 years ago – 2008
St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal church members completed a labyrinth they spent months building out of bricks next to the sanctuary.
1 year ago – 2012
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Reserve Deputy Barney Brause met with a large group of Fern Valley residents to discuss the Neighborhood Watch Program.
