Past Tense: September 19, 2019
70 years ago – 1949
The Chamber of Commerce reported a profit from its Gold Rush celebration at Town Hall.
65 years ago – 1954
“Betrayed,” starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner, was playing at the Rustic Theatre.
60 years ago – 1959
The U.S. Forest Service announced the reactivation of the Thomas Mountain lookout station. The lookout had been abandoned after World War II when it was used as a plane-spotting post.
55 years ago – 1964
Idyllwild Fire Department was conducting a benefit drive to secure radios for firefighters’ cars.
50 years ago – 1969
Deer season opened and Bonnar Blong, state wildlife manager, reported that deer were “fat and sleek” from an ample food and water supply over the recent years.
35 years ago – 1984
An open party was held for Frank Dixon, who was celebrating his 100th birthday.
30 years ago – 1989
The County Service Area 36 Advisory Committee hoped to secure county land for a regional park and a portion of Dutch Flats for a baseball field.
20 years ago – 1999
A new California Highway Patrol Community Service Office opened in The Fort.
15 years ago – 2004
As a result of devastation caused by bark beetles, Southern California Edison reported that it had removed 12,000 trees in the Idyllwild-area mountains in less than a year.
10 years ago – 2009
After 22 years at the Town Crier, 13 of them at its helm, Publisher-Editor Becky Clark told her staff on Sept. 10 that she planned to retire effective Nov. 13. She would remain in a consulting role until the end of the year. In 2013, Clark and her husband Jack returned and purchased the newspaper. They are still the owners.
5 years 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.
1 year ago – 2018
The California State Firefighters Association honored four Cal Fire Riverside Unit individuals for their bravery on a harrowing rescue of a stranded hiker on Lily Rock.
