Past Tense: March 12, 2015
File photo
65 years ago – 1950
FM radio equipment was installed in Forest Service trucks and lookouts.
60 years ago – 1955
Registered voters served by the Idyllwild Water Company were to go to the polls to vote for or against the formation of an Idyllwild County Water District, and to elect five directors.
55 years ago – 1960
The Hill’s year-round population was set at 1,250 residents by Glenn Froehlich, local manager of California Edison. In 1950 it was about 435.
50 years ago – 1965
The County Planning Commission approved rezoning of a local subdivision for a single-family development that would be made up of 47 lots located east of Scenic Drive and Daryll Road.
45 years ago – 1970
A big snowfall was welcome on the Hill. The season’s snow total was just over 14 inches.
40 years ago – 1975
At the Dime-A-Dip Dinner sponsored by the Idyllwild School Parents Club, all main dishes and salads could be purchased for 10 cents a scoop.
35 years ago – 1980
Soaring costs for OPEC oil and other fuels could result in “dramatic and unavoidable” increases of up to 50 percent in customers’ electricity bills, Southern California Edison Company warned the prior week.
30 years ago – 1985
Nearly $1,300 worth of lobster tails, shrimp, crab and beer were taken from The Chart House restaurant in Fern Valley during an early-morning break-in.
25 years ago – 1990
The Cornet Variety store was having a spring sale. For less than $9, a customer could buy a tablecloth, a shower curtain, a 5-foot rug runner and four dish cloths.
20 years ago – 1995
Nonstop torrential rains fell on the San Jacintos and wreaked havoc on the Hill’s highways. Fallen boulders and a gaping erosion-caused hole closed Highway 243 between Idyllwild and Banning. Highway 74 between Mountain Center and Hemet was closed due to major road damage.
15 years ago – 2000
Local locksmith Tom Visel made the winning bid of $2,500 to the Idyllwild Fire Department for its 1986 Ford Econoline ambulance. Visel planned to convert the vehicle into a shop van.
10 years ago – 2005
A grand opening celebration was held for the new Village Centre complex in downtown Idyllwild.
5 years ago – 2010
Idyllwild locals Winifred (Winnie) Wood, now deceased, and longtime friend Dorothy (Dot) Swain Lewis, 94, received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow, at a ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
1 year ago – 2014
Idyllwild resident, Robert Peek, a ranger at Mt. San Jacinto State Park, received the California State Park Rangers Association’s Award of Valor for saving a life.
