Past Tense: March 5, 2015
65 years ago – 1950
Ernie Maxwell and Ralph Accardi, conducting the snow survey, got lost near Hidden Lake. But Maxwell declared, “Each year we get a little less lost.”
60 years ago – 1955
Under a franchise granted to W.E. Huffman, Star Route mail carrier between Hemet and Idyllwild, passengers were to be carried via mail truck. One-way fare was $1.
55 years ago – 1960
An experiment by the U.S. Forest Service to attack beetle-infested pines by spraying insecticide from a helicopter was conducted at Chimney Flat.
40 years ago – 1975
It was announced that the Pacific Crest Trail, which was two-thirds built, would pass through the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains. The trail, which would be the nation’s longest, was scheduled for completion in 1980.
35 years ago – 1980
It was raining again to the dismay of Leonard Hale, general manager of the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District. Recent storms had badly eroded the granite below the auxiliary dam at Lake Hemet, threatening to cause a loss of an estimated 2.6 billion gallons of water.
30 years ago – 1985
A public hearing was held by the Riverside County Planning Department on a request to expand the Eleanor Park fast-food facility into a family-type restaurant. The applicant, Bill Hunt of Idyllwild, was the operator of the Woodpecker’s Hut Git-N-Go Kitchen on the site.
25 years ago – 1990
Five hundred students from Idyllwild Elementary School planted 1,500 trees on the grounds of the Living Free Animal Sanctuary.
20 years ago – 1995
A team of Idyllwild School students were the first-place winners in The Science Olympiads regional contests. It was the first time Idyllwild School students had participated in the event, which was attended by more than 200 students representing 15 participating schools.
15 years ago – 2000
The Women’s Guild of the Idyllwild Community Presbyterian Church gave a tribute to Grace Moore, who had recently retired after 15 years of running the church’s Thrift Shop. Funny thing though, Grace seems to have forgotten that and can still be found running around the Thrift Shop.
10 years ago – 2005
Idyllwild’s favorite poet, Stefi Chase, died at the age of 91. She had owned Idyllwild’s first bookstore, The Bookend. Her poetry was published by Strawberry Valley Press, then a Town Crier publishing company, and by Idyllwild’s Stonehill Books.
5 years ago – 2010
Idyllwild resident actor Conor O’Farrell was featured in the 10-part miniseries, “The Pacific,” which aired on HBO.
1 year ago – 2014
Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to assist drought-affected communities and provide funding to better use local water supplies.
