Past Tense: April 4, 2019

**Brad** *and* **Betty Stevens** opened Brad’s Bikes on Highway 243 near the village in 1972. Betty rented out 14 bicycles from Friday to Monday while Brad produced leather products at The Kobble Shop down the street. The couple also had a two-week-old daughter named **Naomi.** *file photo*

70 years ago – 1949

The snow survey team discovered about 6 feet of snow in Tahquitz Valley.

60 years ago – 1959

A new gateway marked the entrance to Idyllwild Pines Camp. Eighty tons of rock were used in the 19-foot-high supports. A 12-ton pine timber measuring 42 feet in length rested on top.

50 years ago – 1969

Mary Nelson, Doris Gee, Dorothy Lewis and Winifred Wood attended the 25th-reunion of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. The four veterans figured they had accumulated a total of 10,000 flying hours.

45 years ago – 1974

A fully furnished, two- bedroom, 1-1/2 bath retreat — in “apple-pie order” — was listed for sale for $27,500.

35 years ago – 1984

Heated discussion about Thousand Trails took up much of the time at the monthly meeting of the Pine Cove Property Owners Association board. But the board agreed to continue supporting TT’s plans for building an alternate entrance to its Pine Cove preserve.

30 years ago – 1989

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors waived parking regulations that would have required the Rustic Theatre to build an 84-space parking lot.

25 years ago – 1994

The Idyllwild Help Center and Town Hall were gearing up to put on the second-annual Easter Egg Hunt.

25 years ago – 1999

Sheila Finch, a parttime Pine Cove resident, was nominated for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Award for her novella, “Reading the Bones.”

15 years ago – 2004

Riverside County received approval of a grant application to the Forest Service for $2.85 million for tree removal.

10 years ago – 2009

Following a March 19 Town Crier article about a proposed shelter for women who are domestic violence victims and have addiction problems, Pine Cove community opposition to the project began to focus on Whitesands Medical CEO Noel T. Winter — his personal and professional background, whether and how that impacts shelter legitimacy, and his decision to locate the facility in a rural community’s residential neighborhood and to widely publicize its location.

5 years ago – 2014

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Hemet Station had exhausted all leads and the likelihood of finding Rocky the deer, part of the Art Alliance’s Deer Project. The deer might have been dismantled and scrapped, according to the department.

1 year ago – 2018

On Easter night, a large (magnitude 3.4) earthquake occurred about 9 miles west/southwest of Anza and 18 miles east of Temecula.