75 years ago – 1947
It was announced that whoever was nearest the button would blow the fire siren daily at noon. No guarantee was made, however, that the timing would be accurate.

70 years ago – 1952
Mike Dunn and Mac McCullog trekked 20 miles over Tahquitz and down into Palm Springs.

65 years ago – 1957
Boyd Lovell, Idyllwild’s new barber, was also a mystery man. His whodunit, “A Rage to Kill,” had just been published.

60 years ago – 1962
Scotty and Elea Allison opened the newly remodeled Alpine Market in Fern Valley.

55 years ago – 1967
Neil Bell, seventh-grader, received a pin for six consecutive years of perfect attendance.

50 years ago – 1972
The Idyllwild Water board held a public meeting to answer questions about the water shortage. One resident called it a “sanctioned gripe session.”
• • •
Ernie Maxwell was appointed to the Watershed Fire Council of Southern California.

45 years ago – 1977
Idyllwild resident Liesl Barnett was confirmed as a one-year appointee to the Riverside Grand Jury.

40 years ago – 1982
The second Idyllwild 10 Kilometer Run brought 234 runners along the course. An added attraction was a 5 Kilometer Run.
• • •
The Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Riverside denied a lease proposal to stage a mammoth three-day rock festival on the Cahuilla Indian Reservation.

35 years ago – 1987
The 37th Summer Program at ISOMATA began without a hitch.

30 years ago – 1992
Doug Henninger and Becky Kelley were the overall men’s and women’s champions of the third Lions Club Timber Fest.

25 years ago – 1997
Another Fourth of July Parade was being planned and entries were being received. The community planned a first-rate Fourth of July weekend.

20 years ago – 2002
A State Department of Health inspection of Idyllwild Water District operations was moved up the schedule and given priority status because of controversy over the district’s plans to use a well that was known to have high levels of radioactivity (Well 1A).

15 years ago – 2007
The historic A.C. Lovekin cedar tree came down to become the material for David Roy’s new Idyllwild Tree Monument. Located on Tahquitz Road in Fern Valley, this tree was allegedly once used in World War II as a defense system to spot enemy fighters on the coast, which could be seen from a platform at the tree’s top.

10 years ago – 2012
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Reserve Deputy Barney Brause met with a large group of Fern Valley residents to discuss the Neighborhood Watch Program.

5 years ago – 2017
A magnitude 3.5 quake, the fourth since June 7 above magnitude 3 to strike near the Idyllwild area, occurred.

1 year ago – 2021
Longtime resident Jenny Kirchner and partner Nicole Smith-Merry opened Gidget’s Game Room in the space that had housed a video store.