Past Tense: January 16, 2020

70 years ago – 1950
One hundred cars were hung up on the icy Hurkey Creek grade. A spot check revealed that only one car in 10, on the Pines-to-Palms Highway, carried chains.
65 years ago – 1955
Among snow lovers who flocked to the Hill were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
60 years ago – 1960
Sheriff’s Deputy Hollis C. Hollis moved to the Hill to replace Deputy Jim Henry.
55 years ago – 1965
Town Hall membership cards were being sold for $2 to raise money for the Town Hall Improvement Fund. The holder of a card would be entitled to a discount at Town Hall programs and activities throughout the year.
50 years ago – 1970
A citizens review committee for the general plan and scenic route work on local mountain highways was named by the county board of supervisors. Appointed from Idyllwild were Dick Elliott, Bob Johnson, Bob Eslinger, Mike Michelsen and Glenn Froehlich.
45 years ago – 1975
At a meeting of the ’39ers Club, Bob Allen, president of the Pine Cove Property Owners Association, predicted that gasoline prices would rise to 75 cents a gallon or more as a result of President Ford’s decision to tax imported oil.
40 years ago – 1980
Pat Hair was re-elected president of the Idyllwild Fire Protection District.
35 years ago – 1985
A solo climber who had spent a night stranded on the north face of Mt. San Jacinto was rescued by the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit.
30 years ago – 1990
About 260 educators, mostly from Southern California, were visiting Idyllwild School to observe its Whole Language Program in action.
25 years ago – 1995
Following the advice of its legal counsel, the Hemet Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to suspend teaching the district’s sex education curriculum with exception of the state requirement on AIDS.
20 years ago – 2000
The Soroptimists and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were raising funds for a gun buy-back program to reduce the number of guns in the community.
15 years ago – 2005
A rock slide of massive boulders closed Highway 243 between Idyllwild and Banning. A week of rain and snow, more than all of the previous year, caused the rock slide.
10 years ago – 2010
Once again, the state was expecting a multi-billion-dollar deficit and would continue to cut programs in order to come close to a balanced budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced.
5 years ago – 2015
A new county-wide ambulance-service contract was approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Only 1st District Supervisor Kevin Jeffries opposed it because he favored new competition for the contract.
1 year ago – 2019
Peter and Ann Kindfield, two Ph.D.s in education, came to Idyllwild.