Past Tense: August 29, 2019

70 years ago – 1949
The fire chief begged eager, would-be volunteers not to jump on the fire truck when it was on the way to a fire.

65 years ago – 1954
Locals were raising funds to donate to the March of Dimes to combat an alarming increase in polio cases.

60 years ago – 1959
Locals gathered for the Sunday afternoon musical on the patio of the Ida Wilder home on Circle Drive.

55 years ago – 1964
County and state health and pollution officials met with business and civic leaders to consider solutions for sewage disposal. They said a system would be needed within the next two years to handle increased water loads.

50 years ago – 1969
Almost 100 local teens attended a dance at Town Hall.

45 years ago – 1974
A fire that started on the Soboba Indian Reservation quickly raced up the mountain, ultimately burning 18,000 acres. Residents of Pine Cove were evacuated. It was the worst fire on the hill since 1943.

40 years ago – 1979
A crowd of more than 500 people turned out for the annual membership meeting of the Anza Electric Cooperative.

35 years ago – 1984
Construction began on the new Idyllwild Fire Station on Maranatha Drive.

30 years ago – 1989
What had previously been an unnamed part of the mountain range between San Jacinto and Jean peaks was named the Newton B. Drury Peak after the man, who for decades worked to save and protect state parks. Drury was called the “father of the Mount San Jacinto Wilderness.”

25 years ago – 1994
A public memorial service was held for Ernie Maxwell, community leader and founder of the Town Crier. Maxwell died in his sleep at the age of 83 on Aug. 20.
20 years ago – 1999
The first meeting of the Idyllwild School Expansion Project Planning Committee convened to discuss building plans for a new gymnasium and performing arts space and eight new classrooms.

15 years ago – 2004
The Center for Biological Diversity in Idyllwild filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking critical habitat designation for the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog.

10 years ago – 2009
Guaranty Bank sold to Spanish Banking giant Banco Bilbao Vicaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) in one of the largest U.S. government-assisted deals offered to a foreign bank.

5 years ago – 2014
More than 100 people affiliated with the Desert Sun School (later the Elliott-Pope Preparatory School) in Idyllwild from the year 1942 to the school’s closure in 1990 held a reunion. The reunion was on the school campus, now the site of AstroCamp.

1 year ago – 2018
County organized a community meeting to stress flood dangers due to the severity of the Cranston Fire changing the soil where it burned.