Past Tense: October 8, 2020

70 years ago – 1950
The Fern Valley Lodge was selling “fine diners” for only $1 per meal.

65 years ago – 1955
Hemet Unified School District (HUSD) provided a bus to take Idyllwild students to football games in Hemet.

60 years ago – 1960
Although the Forest Service had not declared the Keen Camp guard station as excess, the possibility arose that the site might be used for a junior and senior high school.

55 years ago – 1965
At the conclusion of an 11-day training program conducted by the Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation held on the USC-Arts Foundation campus, teacher Lora Steere sculpted in clay a bust of spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

50 years ago – 1970
Because of high fire danger, the U.S. Forest Service closed all national forests south of Lake Tahoe.

45 years ago – 1975
The three local water boards — Fern Valley, Idyllwild, and Pine Cove — were on the verge of signing a joint-powers agreement. The formation of the authority would tackle problems common to all districts, such as the need for more water.

40 years ago – 1980
It was announced that no formal charges would be brought against three boys, two only 11 years old, who started the 28,655-acre Dry Falls Fire.

35 years ago – 1985
Lottery fever was high when news spread that Dee Ladd of Idyllwild had won $5,000 on a ticket she purchased at Village Market.

30 years ago – 1990
The Alandale Property Owner’s Association (APOA) voted to purchase the Alandale Water Company from Palm Desert Resident Evelyn Welch. In conjunction with the purchase, the APOA formed the Alandale Mutual Water Company.

25 years ago – 1995
Commemorating 100 years of service, a Lake Hemet Dam Centennial Celebration was held at the Lake Hemet campground.

20 years ago – 2000
Along the left side of Village Lane, someone had defaced the storefronts with graffiti. The stop sign at the corner of North Circle Drive and Highway 243 and the wooden railing outside Jan’s Red Kettle had been hit with the same markings.

15 years ago – 2005
The fire danger level in the San Bernardino National Forest was raised from “High” to “Very High.” The forecast of Santa Ana winds was the impetus for the shift in danger level.

10 years ago – 2010
From September through November, Southern California Edison replaced existing meters in Idyllwild with Edison SmartConnect (Smart) two-way communicating meters. The new meters were able to transmit daily household energy usage data to customers’ SCE website sign-in page.

5 years ago – 2015
Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to allow terminally ill Californians to obtain medication to aid in dying, making California the fifth state to permit patients to terminate their lives.

1 year ago – 2019
Town roads were completely torn up due to the county repaving project. Detours were present only when it was too late to compensate and traffic control was non-existent. Not only were residents frustrated, so were business owners.