Past Tense: 11.21.2013

65 years ago - 1948

Directors of the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce voted to “reforest” the San Jacinto Mountains with Sequoia Giganteas.

 

60 years ago - 1953

Idyllwild Beauty Shop advertised, “Fall tints for your tresses,” offering tint colors “maple red,” “oakleaf russet” and “alder grey.”

 

55 years ago - 1958

Dr. Max Krone was in Germany acting as director of music for the U.S. Army schools in Germany, France and Italy.

 

50 years ago - 1963

Chamber of Commerce membership stood at 446, of which 82 were business memberships.

 

45 years ago - 1968

County Administrator Robert Anderson urged Idyllwild to incorporate.

 

40 years ago - 1973

Seventeen people were running for eight  water board vacancies. A Town Crier editorial commended the “public-spirited citizens” for running for positions which were “unpaid, time-consuming, often thankless jobs.”

 

35 years ago - 1978

After a six-month search, another physician was found for the mountain area. Dr. David H. Reid of Weston, Mass., a family practitioner for more than 30 years, declared his intention to move to the Hill as soon as possible.

 

30 years ago - 1983

The Hemet Unified School District governing board announced it would hold meetings in the Idyllwild and Anza communities in an effort to solicit more public input on the location of a proposed mountain-area school.

 

25 years ago - 1988

Nearly $2 million worth of fine cars — 25 Ferraris — were in Idyllwild when members of the Ferrari Owners Club from  Los Angeles stopped for lunch.

 

20 years ago - 1993

The Pine Cove Water District Board of Directors voted to form a lease agreement with the Idyllwild Lions Club for refurbishing the ballfields located at Dutch Flats, which were jointly owned by the Pine Cove Water District and the Idyllwild Water District. The fields had been closed down eight years previously.

 

15 years ago - 1998

Local fisherman “Grandpa Duncan” caught a 21-pound catfish from the shore of Lake Hemet. He was on a roll, having recently caught a 23-pounder and a 20-pounder.

 

10 years ago - 2003

As firestorms and high winds intensified across Southern California, Southern California Edison cut off electricity to the mountain communities for more than 24 hours.

 

5 years ago - 2008

Singer/Songwriter Jack Tempchin was scheduled to perform during an intimate show at the Rustic Theatre on Dec. 6.

 

1 year ago - 2012

Cal Fire crews removed a 140-year-old California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), the first local casualty of the Goldspotted oak borer that had killed more than 80,000 trees in San Diego County.