Past Tense: November 19, 2020

70 years ago – 1950
Plans for state riding and hiking trails received a boost when Hector Switzer inspected portions of the local trail system and reported them favorable.

65 years ago – 1955
Village Market was selling Thanksgiving turkeys for 47 cents a pound and fresh cranberries for 19 cents a pound.

60 years ago – 1960
About a quarter of an acre burned near Dark Canyon when a fire was started by a smoker or a hunter.

55 years ago – 1965
At Town Hall, Hemet Valley Unified School District trustees approved application for federal funds to initiate a program for greater student development using team teaching and special equipment to help students achieve their potential and competency.

50 years ago – 1970
Lewis LeRoy and Ernest Maxwell were named honorary members of the Idyllwild Fire Department because of their past and continuing services to the Idyllwild Fire Protection District.

45 years ago – 1975
Big Bear Timber Co. of Redlands was going to remove 156 trees or 80,000 board feet of lumber from a commercially zoned property in the center of town. Idyllwild residents strongly protested the idea.

40 years ago – 1980
A conservation project unofficially called REPAIRS (Renewable Energy Project and Idyllwild Recreation Site) was unveiled at the meeting of the local Izaak Walton League.

35 years ago – 1985
Idyllwild Fire Department had measured 13 inches of snow and it was still coming down.

30 years ago – 1990
In the lodge of the University of California’s James Reserve at Lake Fulmor, Mike Hamilton was fine tuning a visual aid technology that would allow people to use video to get closer to nature.

25 years ago – 1995
Idyllwild high school students were preparing for the 14th-annual Riverside County Academic Decathlon, taking place at the University of California, Riverside, on Nov. 18.

20 years ago – 2000
Designed to promote Idyllwild as a destination for holiday gift shopping, seven galleries were participating in the Art Alliance of Idyllwild’s holiday gallery event, which raised money for Animal Rescue Friends.

15 years ago – 2005
Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone and 5th District Supervisor Marion Ashley each gave $25,000 in community improvement designation funds and the County Waste Management Department contributed another $27,000 to repair the Deer Creek crossing in Poppet Flats.

10 years ago – 2010
As the gold leaves of autumn fell in windswept billows, Idyllwild storeowners hung decorative lights, an expectant chill permeated each sunlit morning, and towns folk begin to prepare for the treasured festivity of close gatherings.

5 years ago – 2015
Management of the Idyllwild Transfer Station changed hands with CR&R Inc. of Stanton, buying the contract that Waste Management Inc. had with Riverside County.

1 year ago – 2019
Dirt, dust, burned-out trees and new shrub growth is like a blanket across May Valley a year-and-a-half after the Cranston Fire ripped through the area, quickly chewing up anything in its path. The Santa Ana winds didn’t give way Saturday morning as about 25 volunteers worked tirelessly planting saplings as part of a reforestation project led by 14-year-old Ryan Lawrence.