Past Tense: December 12, 2013
File photo, by Norwood Hazard
65 years ago – 1948
“Ma’s New Husband,” the first production of the Mountain Players, was a big hit. Evie Kretsinger and Leigh Dutton headed the cast.
60 years ago – 1953
Boxes were placed in village stores for gifts of food and clothing for American Indians on the Santa Rosa reservation.
55 years ago – 1958
Businesses were asked to enter the Community Yule Decoration Contest the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce sponsored.
50 years ago – 1963
Intermittent rain fell, bringing the season’s total to 10.90 inches, compared to 1.87 inches for the previous year.
45 years ago – 1968
Welch’s Carriage Inn offered a complete dinner for $1 on Wednesday Family Night.
40 years ago – 1973
With grocery industry strikes affecting deliveries to the Hill, local grocery store owners were making runs to Los Angeles and Santa Fe Springs several times a week to obtain goods.
35 years ago – 1978
Busted water pipes, hard-to-start cars and cold hands tormented many Hill residents when a cold spell dropped temperatures to as low as 8 degrees.
30 years ago – 1983
Hemet Unified School District announced it was exploring yet another prospective site for a mountain high school. Funds were approved to complete an environmental assessment on the site located behind the Living Free Animal Sanctuary in Mountain Center.
25 years ago – 1988
Dwight “Buzz” Holmes was preparing to conduct the 12th-annual local presentation of Handel’s “The Messiah.”
20 years ago – 1993
After serving two years on the Hemet Unified School District board, Bill Sanborn was elected president.
15 years ago – 1998
Mike Pearson, a good friend of Santa Claus, was booking Christmas Eve visits by Santa to locals’ homes in exchange for a donation to the Idyllwild Tree Monument maintenance fund.
10 years ago – 2003
The County Service Area 38 Advisory Council proposed a special tax to be collected from Pine Cove property owners to help fund the Pine Cove Fire Station and ambulance contracts. The tax was to be voted on in May.
5 years ago – 2008
The defense attorney for accused murderer and arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler had inadvertent support from the federal government for his contention that another more likely person was an arson suspect at the time Oyler was arrested.
1 year ago – 2012
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire announced they had adjusted their fire protection responsibilities on the Hill. Separately, Cal Fire would increase its firefighting resources on the Hill in 2013.
