65 years ago – 1949

“Red,” Chuck and Mary Roberts’ dog, was a hero. His persistent barking at 2 a.m. alerted Chuck that the Cedars Cafe was ablaze. Chuck turned in the alarm and Bunny Brown, on the switchboard, called Bill Price and the firefighters.

 

60 years ago – 1954

Forest Service Ranger John Gilman announced that no Christmas trees could be cut in the San Jacinto district that season, stating that they were “… much more valuable as watershed and scenic assets than they would be as holiday decorations.”

 

55 years ago – 1959

Golfers were testing the new Tahquitz Lake Golf Course on the site  known as Dutch Flat.

 

50 years ago – 1964

Idyllwild School fourth- through eighth-graders watched with interest as TV sets were installed in their classrooms.

 

45 years ago – 1969

The 500,000th volume added to the library of the University  of California, Riverside was “The Cahuilla Indians,” by Harry James, Town Crier contributor and resident of the San Jacinto Mountains.

 

40 years ago – 1974

Fern Valley Water District purchased a 1.4 million-gallon storage tank, increasing the district’s storage capacity 50 percent.

 

30 years ago – 1984

An agreement for a 10.3-percent pay raise was finally reached between the Hemet Teachers Association and the Hemet Unified School District.

 

25 years ago – 1989

Artist Jonathan LaBenne spent long days carving so he could finish the new tree monument in time for its unveiling before the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

 

15 years ago – 1999

U.S. Forest Service Soil Scientist Randy Davis and a crew of Hotshots and other USFS engine crews were rehabbing the thousands of acres burned in August’s Mixing Fire. They were trying to prevent mud slides from occurring during the approaching rainy season.

 

10 years ago – 2004

Idyllwild Inn celebrated its 100th anniversary.

 

5 years ago – 2009

Capt. John Pingel, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Hemet station commander, said the station’s Special Investigation Bureau conducted 16 operations from January through October 2009 that netted a marijuana haul of 77,242 plants in the Idyllwild area with street value in excess of $200 million.

 

1 year ago – 2013

The U.S. Forest Service was closing nearly 16,000 acres in the San Jacinto Ranger District for the next 12 months. In July, the Mountain Fire burned nearly 27,500 acres, resulting in significant trail damage from Garner Valley north to Saddle Junction.