70 years ago - 1949
In a playoff in Palms Springs, Butler’s Nutcrackers defeated the Register Ragdolls to become Women’s Bowling League champs.
65 years ago - 1954
The first light snow of the season hit the mountain area.
60 years ago - 1959
To mark “Double Tenth,” or Chinese New Year, Mary Nelson announced forming a Chinese wind and string ensemble.
55 years ago - 1964
David “Bud” Hunt Jr. was selected by the Idyllwild Fire District commission to fill a vacancy on the station staff.
50 years ago - 1969
Directors of the Idyllwild Protective League voted to disband the organization, formed in 1958 to “preserve the natural beauty and charm of the Idyllwild area.”
45 years ago - 1974
At a meeting of the Idyllwild Property Owners, an official from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) assured locals that highways 74 and 243 were not destined to become freeways.
40 years ago - 1979
Paul West, editor and writer for hit series such as “The Waltons,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Father Knows Best” was guest speaker for a Rotary Club lecture at the Rustic Theatre.
35 years ago - 1984
Idyllwild resident Lora Steere, 96, collected her 81st Squirrel Card when she visited Tahquitz Peak Lookout with a little help from her friends. Steere, who suffered a hip injury 10 years earlier, was carried to the peak in a special litter designed to accommodate her wheelchair.
30 years ago - 1989
Town Crier founding publisher and editor Ernie Maxwell was the speaker for the first meeting of the fall season of the Idyllwild Literary Society.
25 years ago - 1994
Hill resident Chris Thile, 12, took first place in the mandolin division of the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship at the Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, Kan. Chris was the youngest contestant ever to win any of the annual championships.
20 years ago - 1999
About 250 people danced to oldies music at the Idyllwild School PTA’s fifth-annual “Blast to the Past.” The event raised more than $700 for the school.
15 years ago - 2004
California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and chose Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him. Idyllwild voters turned out in large numbers for the recall election.
10 years ago - 2009
On Oct. 6, the Valley Health System Board of Directors approved the sale of the hospital district’s property and assets to a local physicians group — Physicians for Healthy Hospitals. A specific or fixed price was neither announced nor used during the meeting, but it was in the range of $114 to $118 million.
5 years ago - 2014
In September 2014, a Riverside County grand jury notified the Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) and its finance committee that it found the IFPD responses to the June grand jury report were “not in compliance” with the penal code section specifying how to respond to grand jury findings and recommendations.
1 year ago - 2018
The Cranston Fire had cost several Riverside County departments close to $1 million, according to figures released to the Town Crier by the county’s Emergency Management Department.