{"id":17858,"date":"2013-02-15T15:26:47","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T22:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=17858"},"modified":"2013-05-16T16:24:49","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T23:24:49","slug":"rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotary visits Twin Pines Ranch: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nancy Layton
\nSpecial correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the Idyllwild Rotarians visited Riverside County\u2019s Twin Pines Ranch. The boys from the ranch have helped several Idyllwild associations, such as the Jazz in the Pines Festival. This is the first of a two-part story about the ranch and life there.<\/em><\/p>\n

As you head toward Banning on Highway 243 it\u2019s easy to miss Twin Pines Road on your right as you speed off the mountain. If you venture down that road, you\u2019ll pass acres of charred manzanita and live oaks that testify to the awesome devastation, which the Esperanza Fire created here in 2006.
\n\"\"
\nTwin Pines Road terminates at the Twin Pines Ranch, officially the Riverside County Youth Offenders Program Twin Pines Ranch. It\u2019s not a prison, but you still need an invitation and must check in at the office. Thirty-two members and guests of the Idyllwild Rotary Club responded to such an invitation to tour the Ranch, Wednesday, Feb 6.<\/p>\n

Since 1947 the ranch has provided a disciplined, clean, educational and work-focused environment to boys aged fifteen to eighteen who have run afoul of the law. That it is not a prison is proven by the nearly 50 percent escape rate the Ranch Director Jimmy Shorter bemoans. <\/p>\n

Soon after assuming the director\u2019s position in 2011, Shorter, who has spent 24 years in corrections and probation in Riverside County, attempted to change that percentage by changing the program. He did away with the \u201cboot camp\u201d regimen, opting instead for a more open, supportive environment for the boys and shortening the overall program from eighteen to six months. <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t work. Nearly half the boys sent to the Ranch still take off down the trail Shorter referred to as \u201cAWOL\u201d Highway, headed for Cabazon at the end of that narrow dirt track. \u201cThese kids have to want to be here for this program to work,\u201d Shorter said, standing at the front of the green bus that took the Rotarians around the Ranch.<\/p>\n

Twin Pines Ranch encompasses 1,100 acres, much of it pasture for the ranch\u2019s herd of cattle. Each day several boys drive down a dirt trail to the barn and corrals where the cattle are fed and cared for. The cattle also provide meat for the Ranch\u2019s dining hall. \u201cWe used to have a butcher shop here on the Ranch,\u201d Shorter said, \u201cbut we got rid of it and now ship our cattle to another place for butchering.\u201d <\/p>\n

As the bus moved back to the main area, the Rotarians asked him questions about the Ranch. Horses? \u201cNot any more, none that we keep here. Too expensive to keep horses, but we do have a riding program for the boys,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe bring a couple cowboys with their string of horses up here to teach the boys how to ride and rope and groom horses. It\u2019s good experience for the boys to have to care for something bigger than they are. Teaches them respect, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

After touring the auto mechanics shop where boys working in that vocational program spend their afternoons, then the carpentry shop, the gymnasium, and sports fields, finally the Rotarians saw the two wings of the \u201cbunkhouse\u201d which currently provides open, barracks-style sleeping quarters for 29 boys. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur numbers are down,\u201d Shorter said. \u201cWe usually run about fifty, but probation numbers are down throughout the county system.\u201d <\/p>\n

He went on to explain the reasons, which center mostly on countywide changes in the juvenile offender and drug court systems. Because more of the drug-related convictions result in referrals to rehab programs outside the county\u2019s probation system, programs like the Twin Pines Ranch get fewer first-timers. <\/p>\n

However, Twin Pines Ranch receives many repeat offenders, some of whom have begun to comprehend the reasons for being recycled back into the probation system. Many, unfortunately, may never understand. <\/p>\n

Part 2 of the Rotarians visit to Twin Pines Ranch, \u201cConversations with three Twin Pines Ranch boys,\u201d will appear in next week\u2019s edition, Feb. 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you head toward Banning on Highway 243 it\u2019s easy to miss Twin Pines Road on your right as you speed off the mountain. If you venture down that road, you\u2019ll pass acres of charred manzanita and live oaks that testify to the awesome devastation, which the Esperanza Fire created here in 2006. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRotary visits Twin Pines Ranch: Part 1 • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/twin-pines-director-Shorter.jpg\",\"width\":\"300\",\"height\":\"307\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/\",\"name\":\"Rotary visits Twin Pines Ranch: Part 1 • Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-15T22:26:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-16T23:24:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a605c395c68d70ebff04baa8c6db5908\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2013\/02\/15\/rotary-visits-twin-pines-ranch-part-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a605c395c68d70ebff04baa8c6db5908\",\"name\":\"Town Crier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8243a467cafff8603d6155329abd7d77?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Town Crier\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21053,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858\/revisions\/21053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}