In May 1978, Luther and Marilyn Weare (left) pass the baton of the Idyllwild Town Crier to L.B. and Dorothy Hunsaker. Here, they pose on the steps of one of the little rock buildings that housed the newspaper up in Fern Valley. The Weares bought it from Ernie and Betty Maxwell in 1972. The Hunsakers owned it until 1989, a few months after Dorothy’s death. File photo
In May 1978, Luther and Marilyn Weare (left) pass the baton of the Idyllwild Town Crier to L.B. and Dorothy Hunsaker. Here, they pose on the steps of one of the little rock buildings that housed the newspaper up in Fern Valley. The Weares bought it from Ernie and Betty Maxwell in 1972. The Hunsakers owned it until 1989, a few months after Dorothy’s death.
File photo

 

60 years ago – 1956 

Some Banning youngsters took a one-day outdoor education course at the Arts Foundation. One of them later wrote the instructor (Emax), “I enjoyed hiking with you. Your job was to make us hungry and you sure did it.”

55 years ago – 1961 

Residents were grumbling as they received their tax bills. The county rate rose from $1.86 to $2.07 per $100 of assessed valuation.

• • •

Two young men were injured, one seriously, in a fall while descending Tahquitz Rock. Besides that, their companion rolled his car while racing from Humber Park to summon aid.

50 years ago – 1966 

On a snowy election day, Idyllwild and Pine Cove voted overwhelmingly Republican. Reagan received 565 votes in four precincts against 156 for Brown.

45 years ago – 1971

Markers went up on Highway 74 designating it a State Scenic Highway, the longest stretch of Scenic Highway in Southern California.

40 years ago – 1976

Trailfinders alumni, including a sprinkling of celebrities, attended a ground breaking at the James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve near Lake Fulmor. A 2,400-square-foot multipurpose lodge was to be built on the property.

35 years ago – 1981 

Hunters spied the wreckage of an airplane at the 3,500-foot level on Rouse Hill. It turned out to be a training plane lost during World War II when Hemet-Ryan Field was an Air Corps training site.

25 years ago – 1991 

The Coordinated Resource Management and Planning group decided at its monthly meeting to coordinate the fire-hazard abatement programs on the Hill so they were uniformly interpreted.

20 years ago – 1996 

 Thirty-five-year-old Twila Wellman won third place in a world mountain bike championship in Australia.

10 years ago – 2006

Habitat for Humanity began helping dozens of local volunteers remodel and refurbish the home of Maria Loutzenhiser, whose husband Mark, a Forest Service engine captain, died in the Esperanza Fire.

5 years ago – 2011

Riverside County advanced Idyllwild Fire Protection District $450,000 on its December and January property tax receipts.

1 year ago – 2015

The Town Hall building had been closed for a duration yet to be determined, according to Kyla Brown, parks and recreation bureau chief for the Riverside County Regional Parks and Open-space District, although she hoped it would be only a week. Inspectors found asbestos during a remodel.

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