70 years ago – 1950
Two men, Mike Dunn and Bill Bratton, set a record for the hike from Idyllwild to Palm Springs, reaching the Richfield Station in 10-and-a-half hours.
65 years ago – 1955
Ted Belden, a local furniture manufacturer, led property owners in the mountain resort communities to decide that zoning was not desired. A hand vote was used to record the decision.
60 years ago – 1960
Crowding at the elementary school resulted in moving the kindergarten class across the street to Idyllwild Pines Camp.
55 years ago – 1965
More snow fell on the Hill, giving the San Jacinto Mountains a white Christmas.
50 years ago – 1970
The integration of the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts (now Idyllwild Arts) into the School of Performing Arts, University of Southern California, was announced.
45 years ago – 1975
A parade and a celebration in Anza recreated the historic march of Col. Juan Bautista de Anza from Mexico to San Francisco 200 years previously.
40 years ago – 1980
A working committee of community members formed to continue a fundraising drive for the Robert E. Holmes Bowl on the USC-Idyllwild campus. Because of the stirring performances of Handel’s “Messiah,” there was renewed interest in completing the amphitheater.
35 years ago – 1985
Bird counting, as part of the 19th-annual Audubon Society Bird Count, was “the best it had been in 19 years,” said one couple.
30 years ago – 1990
A Russian violinist from Idyllwild Arts Academy starred in the ninth-annual “Christmas in Washington,” a celebration hosted by President George Bush and his wife, Laura.
25 years ago – 1995
As county park cuts hit the Hill, naturalist Michele Cardineaux received word that her position at the Idyllwild Nature Center was terminated, part of $368,000 in budget cuts the county park division needed to make.
20 years ago – 2000
The U.S. Forest Service received the good news that its funding was being increased to a level it hadn’t seen in over 20 years.
15 years ago – 2005
The Idyllwild Community Recreation Council (ICRC) rejected the Chamber of Commerce’s last offer to join forces, reasoning that ICRC could better serve the community by remaining independent.
10 years ago – 2010
In an all-important pre-Christmas sales week for local merchants, five days of continuous rain began to dampen local sales.
5 years ago – 2015
Melissa Severa, Yokoji Zen Mountain Center resident, wrote about “one woman’s story of wildfire, family and the Zen of survival.” Her story, “Mountain Fire Mama,” is a personal account of the center’s narrow escape from fire and the major damage it subsequently suffered from torrents of water carrying debris and mud that buried cars and impacted structures.
1 year ago – 2019
With winter in full swing, warm clothing is an obvious necessity. The owners of Black Mountain Coffee Roasters, Katie and Chris Bayer, started a coat exchange in front of the shop in the Oakwood Village.
