Past Tense: March 31, 2016
60 years ago – 1956
The American Legion Post 800 elected Kent Bischof to be Idyllwild’s representative to Boys State.
55 years ago – 1961
The Idyllwild Post Office moved to a new location beside Eleanor Park in the center of town. It boasted 880 boxes, more than twice the former number.
50 years ago – 1966
Idyllwild resident and U.S. Navy Electrican’s Mate Tom Visel was aboard the USS Leonard R. Mason when the destroyer picked up Gemini 8 astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott when they returned to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean.
45 years ago – 1971
Idyllwild’s 11 queen candidates for the Bear Flag Festival were guests on the Steve Allen TV show.
40 years ago – 1976
A two-night telethon on Idyllwild’s local cable TV station, KDSS, channel 12, raised money to purchase band instruments for the Idyllwild School Band and the Idyllwild Swing Band.
35 years ago – 1981
A community dance with live music took place at the Anza Community Hall. The event was a fundraiser for a legal fund to fight the Great American Rock Festival, a proposed three-day rock festival slated to be held on the Cahuilla Indian Reservation, south of Anza.
30 years ago – 1986
Bonnie’s Happy Look on North Circle Drive was celebrating the shop’s eighth anniversary.
25 years ago – 1991
The Hemet Unified School District Governing Board voted to add an eighth grade to Idyllwild School, eliminating the need for Hill eighth-graders to be bused to Acacia Middle School in Hemet.
20 years ago – 1996
Television actor and comedian Adam Ferrara performed at the Idyllwild Pizza Company’s Comedy Night event.
15 years ago – 2001
Holly Guntermann, Idyllwild School physical education teacher, was named recipient of the Hemet Unified School District Governing Board Recognition and Program award. At the time, Guntermann had been employed at the school for 20 years.
10 years ago – 2006
The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council received the good news that the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management had agreed to FSC’s proposal to expand its projects’ boundaries to extend from Pine Cove to Mountain Center and encompass most of Idyllwild, including Fern Valley. The expansion cleared the way for FSC to seek more grants to help reduce abatement costs for local property owners.
5 years ago – 2011
Where were Casey’s fans? It made for great television, but American Idol early favorite Casey Abrams’ near elimination was a shock to his fans and to Idyllwild.
1 year ago – 2015
Following the Board of Supervisor’s approval in January of a new county-wide contract for emergency ambulance service with American Medical Response, Riverside County notified the Idyllwild Fire Protection District that its contract with the county to provide emergency ambulance service to zones 2 and 3 (Pine Cove and north and south of the fire district) would be terminated June 30.
