Past Tense: September 17, 2015
File photo
65 years ago – 1950
Because of the increasing mountain population and the heavier downstream needs, it was estimated that the community would soon need an another 7 billion gallons of water.
60 years ago – 1955
After receiving a $4,000 appropriation for campground improvement, District Ranger John Gilman, U.S. Forest Service, began planning an improvement program, including new restroom facilities and more stoves and tables.
55 years ago – 1960
Prompted by the steady increase in enrollment at both the Idyllwild Elementary and Anza schools, trustees of the Hemet school board discussed the possibility of a junior high school in Mountain Center.
50 years ago – 1965
When the 1965 season opened for seven weeks of hunting in the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains, Forest Service patrolmen reported better signs of deer.
45 years ago – 1970
State Park Supervisor Bill Stahlberg reported that on a Saturday night, more than 700 people camped at Round Valley in the Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness State Park and warned that resrictions would soon be necessary.
40 years ago – 1975
After a bit of confusion on the first day of school, a representative from the Transportation Department of the Hemet Unified School District was in Idyllwild attempting to clarify bus arrangements for pupils attending Idyllwild Elementary School.
35 years ago – 1980
Firefighters were taking care of the last few hot spots along the upper side of the desert divide, which was all that remained of the mammoth 28,655-acre Dry Falls Fire.
30 years ago – 1985
A seven-person film crew of the ECONEWS television series was on location in the San Jacinto Mountains. They visited the James Reserve to film footage for a TV series on a range of environmental subjects.
25 years ago – 1990
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors decided to temporarily rezone commercial and multi-use properties on the Hill as single-family residential, concerning people in the construction and real estate industries.
20 years ago – 1995
Parents of Idyllwild School students asked if the teachers were imposing a stricter attitude on the children because of the new and updated Parent/Student Handbook. Some rules followed changes made by the California Legislature, such as the threat of expulsion for hate crimes.
15 years ago – 2000
A John Villani book was to name Idyllwild as one of the 100 best small art towns in America.
10 years ago – 2005
After the devastating Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, four elementary school students at Idyllwild School went to Principal Diane Cardinalli and pleaded that the school mount a fundraising drive to assist the affected children.
5 years ago – 2010
A semi truck for a local food program overturned on Highway 74 at the Mixing Station. The real tragedy of the event was that more than a thousand pounds of meat and about 14,000 pounds of canned food and dry goods never made it to Idyllwild. It was to be distrubuted that day to low-income people and seniors.
1 year ago – 2014
The murder trial of Robert Pape and Cristin Smith for a triple homicide in Pinyon in 2006 became both suspenseful and slowly and cautiously procedural.
