Past Tense: May 1, 2014
65 years ago – 1949
A crew of 70 RKO people descended on the Idyllwild Inn. They were to shoot location scenes for a Tim Holt western. Along with the troupe came Holt’s favorite palomino, Lightning.
60 years ago – 1954
The biggest angling crowd on record came to the mountain for the opening of fishing season. More than 2,500 anglers registered at Lake Hemet, more than 1,400 were tallied on streams along the Banning highway, and anglers stood elbow to elbow around Lake Fulmor.
55 years ago – 1959
With the forest unusually dry, Forest Service lookouts headed for their posts. Kit Robertson returned to Red Mountain, Ray Reading was to man Ranger Peak lookout and Jess Southwell was headed for Tahquitz Peak.
50 years ago – 1964
The American Legion Post 800 offered a $10 prize for anyone who could “ride the bucking donkey” for 10 seconds at its Wild Idle Days held at the Idyllwild Stables Arena.
45 years ago – 1969
The Pinecraft Village Smorgasbord restaurant offered an all-you-can-eat dinner for $2.75.
40 years ago – 1974
Though the weather was chilly and wet, the two-day, second-annual Idyllwild Bluegrass Invitational drew a capacity crowd at Town Hall.
35 years ago – 1979
Students and teachers at Desert Sun School returned home from Chrysalis. Held yearly, the special study program gave students the opportunity to learn through their experiences in such places as Africa, England, Mexico and France.
30 years ago – 1984
It was long overdue and some Hill residents had given up hope, but the first measurable snowfall of the season fell on the Hill on April 27.
25 years ago – 1989
Mac Taylor, founder of Taylor’s Lodge, a popular Hill restaurant since 1948, died just a month after the business closed.
20 years ago – 1994
About 90 teenagers attended a dance at the Idyllwild-Pine Cove Community Center sponsored by the Idyllwild Lions Club, the Rotary and the Soroptimists.
15 years ago – 1999
County Supervisor Jim Venable and his staff attended a meeting of the Hill Municipal Advisory Council to discuss getting public bus service on the Hill. “We’ll get bus service up here,” said Venable.
10 years ago – 2004
There were two public demonstrations in one week by people protesting the Forest Service decision to spray carbaryl to protect trees from the bark beetle.
5 years ago – 2009
Sometime in the coming summer, the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce hoped to have a new work of art in place at the old monument site, to replace the bowed-headed, weakened-winged, woodpecker-attacked eagle cadaver that remained.
1 year ago – 2013
With a resounding show of member indifference, only seven of 57 members of the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce cared enough about the Chamber’s future to attend a meeting called to decide its future.
