I thought last week’s Idyllwild Fire Protection District candidate forum went well. I thought the moderator explained the process well, the audience behaved itself and the candidates were articulate. Surprise! The following day I learned that the moderator threw softball questions at the candidates rather than reading the tough questions actually written down. (Some of…
After the recent Idyllwild-area fire, Idyllwild residents, community venues and the Town Crier were profuse in gratitude to firefighters, a much needed expression of our relief. We were so fortunate to have so many Idyllwild area, state and national firefighters and helicopter crews, and patrolling county sheriffs on the job. We were also fortunate to…
I am the mother of Robyn Shaffer, whom I believe you know, and as such I must acknowledge that the Town Crier was the single most effective avenue of news and updates during the recent horrific [Mountain]fire. I am a Los Angeles resident and my ordinary news sources, such as ABC, CBS and NBC, were…
We are all glad that our town was unharmed by the Mountain Fire, but I don’t want to celebrate too much. I don’t want us to draw the wrong lesson, which is that fire agencies will always have the personnel and equipment to save us. After all, can’t they just keep pulling in more and…
Buddy the cat and Samson the dog had been lost since the Mountain Fire. Imagine the stories they could both tell now that they have returned. Such a relief. Monte, the little guy, has returned home, also. Tippycanoe seems to be a bit shy for the camera this week, so Tyler II decided to give…
65 years ago – 1948 The district school board accepted a bid of $80,272 for a new Idyllwild School building. Work was to be completed in six months. 60 years ago – 1953 The first production of a Shakespearean play in the history of Idyllwild occurred when “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was presented at the…
Here at the editor’s desk, I receive overwhelming requests for precious space in the Town Crier — space that varies depending on the size of the newspaper. People sometimes think it’s easy to add one page to the paper but it’s not that simple. So, for those who’ve never lived in a world of commercial…
My love affair with the San Jacinto Mountains began when I was 9 years old and attending Girl Scout Camp at Azalea Trails. I spent 14 consecutive summers there ending the summer of my last year in college as a unit leader for a group of backpackers you remembered in your recent edition “Past tense,”…
By Blair Ceniceros Claremont (Formerly of Idyllwild and the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council) For years, Cal Fire, the Forest Service and the Fire Safe Council have been warning that it wasn’t “if” but rather “when” a forest fire would come to Idyllwild. Now the unthinkable has arrived, but thanks to the years of planning…
The fire erupted unseen in dried-out brush, and wind drove it through Mountain Center before the first fire crew arrived. As flames raced down the mountainside after quickly consuming nearly two dozen cabins, a smoke plume rose that was visible all over Southern California. Highway 74 was shut down. When the wind died down, stopping…
