Past Tense: October 28, 2021

65 years ago – 1956
The Town Crier threw a 10th-anniversary potluck celebration at Town Hall. Everyone was invited to come and “talk over old times and swap yarns about our beginnings on the Hill.”

60 years ago – 1961
The Town Crier reported it had been, “the driest year on record” and as a result, a serious outbreak of bark beetles occurred on the Hill.
55 years ago – 1966
More than 130 people, including many off-Hill political leaders, gathered at Chef in the Forest to welcome and honor Congressman John Tunney.

50 years ago – 1971
The Banning-Idyllwild Highway became Highway 243, as the state assumed responsibility for the roadway from the county.

45 years ago – 1976
In what would become an annual tradition, the Town Crier published its first calendar featuring seasonal photos of Idyllwild.

40 years ago – 1981
A Southern California Edison crew installed a bell tower and cross at St. Hugh’s Episcopal Church, a 30-foot-tall structure made of cedar. A church member donated the funds and local residents designed and built the tower.
35 years ago – 1986
Joe McGaugh died at the age of 76. An Idyllwild founding father, he owned and operated the Idyllwild Dairy. His delivery truck read, “Joe McGaugh, the Udder Man.”

30 years ago – 1991
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement to build the Lake Hemet Sheriff’s Station.

25 years ago – 1996
History came alive in Idyllwild with the first area historical reenactment camp that local resident Steve Woods organized.

20 years ago – 2001
Construction was underway on a sound stage for the new Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures Department.

15 years ago – 2006
The community was deeply mourning the deaths of five firefighters, members of Alan-
dale Guard Station Crew 57, whose lives were lost while fighting the Esperanza Fire.

10 years ago – 2011
On Tahquitz Peak, a 21-year-old climber had fallen 60 feet and suffered an ankle injury.

5 years ago – 2016
Idyllwild honored the memory of the five Esperanza firefighters the deadly wildfire took on its 10-year anniversary at the site in Twin Pines.

1 year ago – 2020
Idyllwild Arts Academy students presented works they were unable to show last spring due to the COVID pandemic — the “Lost Works” — during a special Zoom session.