Past Tense: September 29, 2022

70 years ago – 1952
Extra game wardens were assigned to the mountains as deer season opened. A record crowd of hunters was anticipated.

65 years ago – 1957
Don and Thelma Frey, Cay Long, Jim Long, Paul Voss, and Chuck and Jo Slaback completed training and qualified as ham radio operators.

60 years ago – 1962
At the end of the first day of kindergarten, a disappointed little student complained to her parents, “We didn’t even learn to write.”

55 years ago – 1967
University Place (likely the McKinney Lane area), near the USC-ISOMATA (now Idyllwild Arts) campus, was the first building tract in Idyllwild to be approved for FHA financing, according to builder John McKinney.

50 years ago – 1972
The Central Area Planning Council gave its go-ahead to a recreation trailer camp condominium project in Poppet Flats.

40 years ago – 1982
Lora Steere, longtime Idyllwild resident, received her 80th Squirrel Card for visiting the Tahquitz Peak Lookout. She first visited the lookout years earlier when her father carried her to the top. This time she was carried in her wheelchair-litter.
35 years ago – 1987
A record for the year, 65 Hill residents turned out to give blood and receive a free cholesterol test.

30 years ago – 1992
Some of the members of Club MAD (Make A Difference) did some landscaping at the Idyllwild HELP Center as part of their community service project for the month.

25 years ago – 1997
At press time, firefighter crews were battling four separate fires on the Hill.

20 years ago – 2002
A 17-year-old Idyllwild resident was arrested on suspicion of burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and home invasion after he entered a Stone Creek home wearing a ski mask and wielding a knife.

15 years ago – 2007
The Hospital Defense League filed suit to block the sale of the Valley Health System to Select Healthcare Solutions of Del Mar.

10 years ago – 2012
Idyllwild Water District met several times with the Riverside County Park and Open-Space District in regards to building a 300,000-gallon storage tank that would supply the Tollgate area, including Idyllwild Arts.

5 years ago – 2017
Local residents took steps to employ a private security firm to patrol Idyllwild late at night. The effort would augment town security as the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department budget cuts had reduced the number of deputies.

1 year ago – 2021
Pine Cove Clean Up was a successful first step to help property owners in Pine Cove rid their property of unsightly trash.