Past Tense: April 9, 2020
70 years ago – 1950
A new sportland was started to replace the one completely destroyed the previous autumn.
65 years ago – 1955
Dr. M.M. Null was again offering sequoia gigantea seedlings free to anyone who wanted to plant them on their Hill property.
60 years ago – 1960
Dollie Smith was named queen of the fourth-annual Bear Festival before a large and enthusiastic audience that filled the Idyllwild Inn dining room.
55 years ago – 1965
The Honey Bear Dining Room on North Circle Drive offered a dinner complete with soup, salad and dessert for $1.75.
50 years ago – 1970
A Town Crier classified ad listed a 1,500-square-foot custom-built home for sale in Pine Cove at $29,950.
45 years ago – 1975
The local bicentennial celebration was “officially” kicked off by the Idyllwild Associates of USC. Attendees of the dinner dressed in colonial costumes.
40 years ago – 1980
Alpine Market opened at Fern Valley Corners.
35 years ago – 1985
The new fire station on Maranatha Drive was dedicated in a ceremony attended by about 100 people. It replaced the old fire station on Highway 243 built in 1949.
30 years ago – 1990
The U.S. Forest Service, San Jacinto Ranger District, proposed that highways 243 and 74 become designated as part of the National Forest Scenic Byways program.
25 years ago – 1995
Members of Idyllwild’s Brownie troop were among those busy coloring 1,200 eggs for the third-annual Easter Egg Hunt. The Idyllwild HELP Center and the Town Hall recreation program sponsored the event.
20 years ago – 2000
An 18-year-old high school student separated from his group to hike alone on Tahquitz Rock fell and broke his neck but was rescued by 10 members of the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit.
15 years ago – 2005
Several hundred fans celebrated the dedication of the Herb Jeffries Trail in Palm Desert. Jeffries, an Idyllwild resident and legendary singer and cowboy actor, entertained the crowd with songs and poetry.
10 years ago – 2010
Formed in 1961, the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit headed into its 50th anniversary year.
5 years ago – 2015
Hemet Unified School District trustees were considering eliminating the $520 annual bus pass Idyllwild students attending Hemet High School had to pay.
1 year ago – 2019
A hiker, Steven Loeffler, 52 of Coronado, slipped and fell off the trail near Apache Peak, which is near the northern terminus of Apple Canyon Road. Loeffler slid more than 100 feet down the mountainside, resulting in a compound fracture to his ankle.
