Past Tense
75 years ago – 1948
The PTA raised $150 at its first Hill social event.
70 years ago – 1953
The thunderstorm that drenched Idyllwild proceeded northward, leaving 300 lightning strikes in the Six Rivers National Forest.
65 years ago – 1958
Charlotte Gorzny, an eager youthful reader, read 47 books to top all other participants in the library’s summer reading program.
60 years ago – 1963
Ground was broken for the new California Electric Power Company office to be located west of the post office.
55 years ago – 1968
The thermometer dipped to 27 degrees. Ice decorated Eleanor Johnson’s yard after plants and trees were watered during the night.
50 years ago – 1973
It was announced that Riverside County would buy a 137-acre addition to Idyllwild County Park.
45 years ago – 1978
Shoppers for Labor Day barbecues could stop at Village Market where ground beef was 79 cents per pound and turkey franks were 59 cents per pound.
40 years ago – 1983
The Riverside Planning Commission’s conditional use permit to Royal Pines Trailer Park for additional spaces was pulled by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, which set another public hearing on the matter.
35 years ago – 1988
The $500 fund-raising goal set for a new marker for the Speed of Light Monument on Pine Cove Road was reached. The original marker, denoting the speed of light experiments conducted in 1926, had been stolen.
30 years ago – 1993
The Pine Cove Water District Board of Directors pursued annexing Alhatti Christian Resort in Alandale into the district.
25 years ago – 1998
Dr. Norman Mellor of Idyllwild, who had donated his time and skills to Camp Emerson for 69 years, had one of the facility’s camping areas named for him.
20 years ago – 2003
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District was truck shopping after 3rd District Supervisor Jim Venable got the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to approve up to $500,000 to buy a new hook-and-ladder truck.
15 years ago – 2008
A record crowd attended the 15th-annual Jazz in the Pines festival held at Idyllwild Arts Academy.
10 years ago – 2013
The number of wildland fires and the unusually dry weather caused the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group to increase the national fire preparedness level to its highest point, PL-5, which signaled very high activity.
5 years ago – 2018
Riverside County organized a community meeting with more than 160 people listening intently about the potential for flooding and debris flows in the Cranston Fire burn area.
1 year ago – 2022
Idyllwild Water District directors approved hiring Bartle Wells Associates to conduct water and wastewater rate studies for the district at a cost of $30,850, despite the company making false claims in its proposal.
