No sooner did weekend visitors arrive in February 1974 than may of them filled their tanks again. Unlike many Southland areas at the time, Idyllwild did not run out of gas, despite the holiday influx of traffic for Valentine’s Day. File photo
No sooner did weekend visitors arrive in February 1974 than may of them filled their tanks again. Unlike many Southland areas at the time, Idyllwild did not run out of gas, despite the holiday influx of traffic for Valentine’s Day.
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.