Past Tense: Feb. 23, 2012
60 years ago – 1952
Townsfolk were invited to a premiere showing of “Ballad of Idyllwild,” a movie made on the campus of ISOMATA (now the Idyllwild Arts Academy). Marais and Miranda were the authors, and Meredith Willson contributed to the theme song.
55 years ago – 1957
The search was abandoned for a nude hiker missing since Jan. 29 in Tahquitz Canyon.
40 years ago – 1972
Assigned to write an article about Idyllwild’s “charming” squirrels, reporter Gary Squier complied but put the facts in line: “I don’t think the little beasts are charming at all, but only noisy and stupid.”
• • •
Town Crier found there were more than 25 formally organized groups in the community, justifying Idyllwild’s nickname “the meeting town.”
35 years ago – 1977
Clarence Bischof, a pioneer lumberman in Idyllwild, passed away in San Diego.
25 years ago – 1987
Lloyd Wood, Idyllwild’s postmaster for 22 years, officially retired. His replacement was Jim Cretes, postmaster for three-and-a-half years in Temecula and a 28-year veteran of the United States Postal Service.
15 years ago – 1997
Idyllwild was among the many areas in California where stargazers could look in awe at Hale-Bopp. The comet was expected to outshine Hyakutake Comet of 1996 and Halley’s Comet of 1985.
10 years ago – 2002
George Covington — the founder of WNKI 1610 AM, Idyllwild’s emergency information radio station — died after battling a number of illnesses.
5 years ago – 2007
Jeff Smith of Pine Cove filed a complaint with the State Water Resources Control Board over whether Idyllwild Water District has the right to use water from Strawberry Creek.
1 year ago – 2011
Without drilling new wells, Idyllwild Water District began to improve its water supply production with efforts to rehabilitate older wells.
