An Idyllwild youth group in Skunk Cabbage Meadow about 1955. From left, Dale Bischof and Doug Dement (lying down); seated, Pattie Davies, Gladys Turner, Carol Michelsen and Susie Shinn; standing, Pat Boss, Don Morlan and Ernest Maxwell. Photo by Ronnie Wilson
An Idyllwild youth group in Skunk Cabbage Meadow about 1955. From left, Dale Bischof and Doug Dement (lying down); seated, Pattie Davies, Gladys Turner, Carol Michelsen and Susie Shinn; standing, Pat Boss, Don Morlan and Ernest Maxwell. Photo by Ronnie Wilson

65 years ago - 1950

By Feb. 15, the season’s total rainfall was 20 inches. Snow line was above 6,500 feet, and the weather was warm.

 

60 years ago - 1955

An Idyllwild Inn cabin was badly damaged in a fire. A bucket of cleaning fluid and a throw rug, left near a floor heater, ignited starting the fire.

 

50 years ago - 1965

The building of two miles of new streets started for a 40-acre Pine Cove subdivision that would contain 130 homes.

 

45 years ago - 1970

In an economy move, the local post office discontinued Saturday window service.

 

40 years ago - 1975

Loggers started clearing the land behind the former post office to make way for the shopping center planned along Strawberry Creek.

 

35 years ago - 1980

Idyllwild Fire Chief Bud Hunt volunteered to make a free inspection of any Idyllwild home to determine the proper location for a smoke detector.

 

30 years ago - 1985

About 30 people representing a variety of special interest groups attended a U.S. Forest Service workshop to express their views about off-highway vehicle (use in the National Forest. Among the concerns raise were the lack of OHV opportunities and the need for limiting OHVs.

 

20 years ago - 1995

Parents, teachers and administrators at Idyllwild School were finishing plans for a fundraising campaign to provide the school’s playground with new equipment. At the time, the playground had only one swing set.

 

15 years ago - 2000

Jazz legend and film star Herb Jeffries performed at a special concert held at the Tyrol Mansion in Pine Cove to benefit jazz pianist Harry Pickens who was struggling with serious health issues.

 

5 years ago - 2010

Saturday’s torrential rain’s final drops broke and washed out a 30- to 40-foot section of Highway 74 in the area of the Cottonwood Fire burn just as the final straw once broke the proverbial camel’s back.

 

1 year ago - 2014

The father of one of the victims in a 2006 triple homicide in Pinyon Pines remains unsatisfied with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation of the crime.