Past Tense: September 17, 2020

70 years ago – 1950
Because of the increasing mountain population and the heavier downstream needs, it was estimated that the community would soon need an another 7 billion gallons of water.

65 years ago – 1955
After receiving a $4,000 appropriation for campground improvement, District Ranger John Gilman, U.S. Forest Service, began planning an improvement program, including new restroom facilities and more stoves and tables.

60 years ago – 1960
Prompted by the steady increase in enrollment at both the Idyllwild Elementary and Anza schools, trustees of the Hemet school board discussed the possibility of a junior high school in Mountain Center.

55 years ago – 1965
When the 1965 season opened for seven weeks of hunting in the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains, Forest Service patrolmen reported better signs of deer.

50 years ago – 1970
State Park Supervisor Bill Stahlberg reported that on a Saturday night, more than 700 people camped at Round Valley in the Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness State Park and warned that resrictions would soon be necessary.

45 years ago – 1975
After a bit of confusion on the first day of school, a representative from the Transportation Department of the Hemet Unified School District was in Idyllwild attempting to clarify bus arrangements for pupils attending Idyllwild Elementary School.

40 years ago – 1980
Firefighters were taking care of the last few hot spots along the upper side of the desert divide, which was all that remained of the mammoth 28,655-acre Dry Falls Fire.
35 years ago – 1985
A seven-person film crew of the ECONEWS television series was on location in the San Jacinto Mountains. They visited the James Reserve to film footage for a TV series on a range of environmental subjects.

30 years ago – 1990
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors decided to temporarily rezone commercial and multi-use properties on the Hill as single-family residential, concerning people in the construction and real estate industries.

25 years ago – 1995
Parents of Idyllwild School students asked if the teachers were imposing a stricter attitude on the children because of the new and updated Parent/Student Handbook. Some rules followed changes made by the California Legislature, such as the threat of expulsion for hate crimes.

20 years ago – 2000
A John Villani book was to name Idyllwild as one of the 100 best small art towns in America.

15 years ago – 2005
After the devastating Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, four elementary school students at Idyllwild School went to Principal Diane Cardinalli and pleaded that the school mount a fundraising drive to assist the affected children.

10 years ago – 2010
A semi truck for a local food program overturned on Highway 74 at the Mixing Station. The real tragedy of the event was that more than a thousand pounds of meat and about 14,000 pounds of canned food and dry goods never made it to Idyllwild. It was to be distrubuted that day to low-income people and seniors.

5 years ago – 2015
Hours after thieves broke into the Mountain Center Market and took the ATM machine, two men were arrested on Highway 74, just west of the Forest Service’s Cranston Ranger Station.

1 year ago – 2019
The Ghost Town event was back in the center of town in the open space along Highway 243 and in front of the Idyllwild HELP Center.