Idyllwild Arts Honor Society students have strong backs will shovel

Idyllwild Arts National Honor Society (IANHS) students are lending strong backs and snow shoveling prowess to special needs Idyllwild residents in an outreach program designed to bring town and gown communities closer together.

“I feel like a lot of the town’s people feel that we [IA students] are in our own world, and we feel that it’s time for that to change — for us to give back,” said IANHS President Sheila Bernhoft. “We have pretty good backs and elderly town residents could use our help.”

Bernhoft, an IA senior viola major, spearheaded the project along with 13 IANHS colleagues, Luke Sherman, Jamie Cahill, Everett Ford, Will Springer, Karina Li, Brent Terry, Yoo Bin Cha, Jordan Bonner, ShiShi Zhou, Geneva Winters, Esther Chung, Bella Oh, Kitty Honma and Ned Lee. The IANHS members will man shovels and manage the project.

The first IA snow brigade turned out Sunday, Jan. 24. One happy homeowner, eighty two year old Leigh Humphrey was surprised and delighted. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” she said. Humphrey said a group of 4 female students and IANHS advisor and math/science teacher Chris Wegemer spent over an hour shoveling her deck, a walkway to her car, and removing snow from the car. “I can’t get out and dig snow,” said Humphrey. She noted the students lacked some shoveling expertise but compensated with dedicated effort. “Chris had to take them back to campus, but he came back later to fine tune what they’d done.” Humphrey said she had 17 inches of snow on her property and the assistance couldn’t have been timelier.

Prior to leaving on Friday for an audition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Bernhoft said the Honor Society planned to open the project to the entire school. “I’m really happy about this connection with the town,” she said. “We have weekends [to volunteer]. We spend a lot of weekends in town anyway. We need to make it so that students and people in town have a relationship of mutual support. We’re thrilled that townsfolk come to our shows and events but it’s pretty much a one-way relationship. This is our opportunity to change that.”

In addition to the IANHS core group, thirty-eight additional students signed up to volunteer — dancers, actors, musicians, filmmakers, writers and visual artists enlisted in the outreach project. They are: Khalid Wardag, Sorrelle McGill, Adrianna Adoma, Georgina Bertheau, Ali Timmons, Hailey Mora, Paulina Kurtz, Andie Huebsch, Dakota Bailey, Gina Galetto, DJ Strong, Ari Howell, Brooke Hebert, Cathy Velarde, Miracle Chance, Haley Kuhlmann, Becca Goldberg, Jing Li, Kathryn Schmidt, Hanna Anderson, Scarlett Urbano, Laura Holliday, Juwan Lockett, Ryu Yanagita, Anna Liem, Nina Brett, Madison Marlow, Scarlett McCarthy, Samantha Jungheim, Yoobin Cha, Amelia Bushell, Helena Walker, Whitney Aviles Low, Amber Morrell, Becky Hirsch, Morgan Unsworth, Kira Hamilton and Emilio Lazcano.

Mountain Disaster Preparedness (MDP) Vice President Dora Dillman is coordinating the project with IA students. “For anyone who wants to be on the [snow shoveling] list, they should go to www.mdp-idyllwild.com and click on ‘Forms,” then click ‘Special Needs List,’” said Dillman. “Then fill out an application and fax it to 659-0180 or scan and e mail to dora@lovethehill.com. Those needing assistance can also call Dillman at (951) 288-5604 or IANHS advisor Wegemer at (951) 659-2171 ext. 2509.

Cedar Glen planned power outage rescheduled

Mary Ann Miller, one of the residents affected by the previously scheduled Jan. 20 Cedar Glenn planned power outage, reports that the outage and concomitant pole repair have been reset for Tuesday Feb. 2 from 7 a.m. till 5 p.m.

This all day outage was to have affected 85 households. But consistent with previous Southern California Edison announcements, were the weather bad enough, the Jan. 20 outage would be rescheduled, as it has been.

Hybrid car race through Idyllwild

Hybrid vehicle owners are invited to compete in a fuel economy rally Saturday. Jan. 23. Phil Fournier, co-owner of the Phil’s Auto Clinic repair shop in Hemet is organizing the event to test hybrid car gas mileage.

Check-in starts at 9:45 a.m., Saturday. The rally begins 45 minutes later at 10:30 a.m., from the Clinic, 111 North Soboba Street.

Fournier has mapped a 112-mile loop from Hemet to Hemet, climbing mountain roads, through Idyllwild, down to the desert and ending in Hemet

Fournier said that he presently has 10 hybrids registered for the rally and is still hoping someone with a 2010 Honda Insight registers to compete against a 2010 Toyota Prius entry. The Insight, the first hybrid available in the U.S. in 1999, is presently billed as the least expensive gas-electric hybrid available in America and, according to Fournier, is capable of getting up to 70 miles per gallon of gasoline.

Along the route, competitors will stop for a picnic lunch of homemade corn chowder, pumpkin soup and gaufrette cookies (a French waffle-cookie treat) prepared by Fournier’s wife, Karen. Winners of the competition will receive $50 Visa gift cards.

To register as a competitor, call Fournier at (951) 927-2102. For more information about the rally, go to www.philsautoonline.com.

Beth Nottley can be reached at beth@towncrier.com.

Idyllwild Water District

The Idyllwild Water District board met last night. In the absence of President Allan Morphett, the board decided to increase the funding for drilling two new test wells.

General manager Terry Lyons has selected two sites along Strawberry Creek. When drilling commences, he wants to drill a larger and deeper hole. The proposed cost for drilling two larger well holes exceeds the existing $57,000 budget.

However when asked if drilling both holes might yield a discount from the driller, Lyons agreed. With an expected 10 percent discount, the estimated total would be $70,000 to $75,000. The board felt the savings were worth the additional costs and authorized the full increase in the budget.

Lyons’ operational report drew attention to the trend of increasing unaccounted for water. Staff has repaired one major leak and is investigating whether another exists. Current wet conditions are not very conducive for finding the leak, Lyons explained.

However vice President Warren Monroe estimated that the market value of the possibly lost water was only $50 per day. Consequently he advised Lyons against investing huge sums looking for a few dollars.

Capparelli asked to step down from CSA 36 Advisory Committee

In a surprise announcement at the Thursday Jan. 14 Idyllwild Community Recreation Council's meeting, ICRC Director Vic Sirkin stated that Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone’s office asked longtime County Service Area (CSA) 36 member Pete Capparelli to step down from the CSA 36 Advisory Committee. Opal Hellweg of Stone’s staff confirmed Sirkin’s announcement, citing Board of Supervisor board policy A-21 that appears to limit board service to 8 years. Section 5f of A-21 states: “To encourage varied citizen participation in advisory groups, the Board of Supervisors shall generally seek new appointees to replace individuals who have served for eight consecutive years. Board members retain the discretion to reappoint individuals regardless of the length of time served on any advisory group.”

CSA committee members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors to be the “eyes and ears” of the district supervisor and have no policy-making authority. CSA 36 is responsible for supervising recreation and street lighting. ICRC is the independent recreation contractor, over which CSA 36 conducts ongoing review.

In a statement released to the Crier, Capparelli,said, “Over the last nine years it has been gratifying and a pleasure to work with CSA board members to help with recreation on the Hill. I have been recently disappointed with the county administrator’s [Bill Brown, CSA operations manager] lack of responsiveness to the Idyllwild Community Recreation Council’s attempts to get clarification on many questions in order to improve their organization in the manner required by the County. When I was first appointed to CSA 36, the county administrator at that time could not do enough to help us. Recently, it’s felt like an uphill battle to make any progress in achieving a better quality of recreation for the community. This is very unfortunate for all of us. I hope better relations can be achieved in the near future.”

Capparelli’s departure is effective immediately leaving two current board vacancies. Interested applicants can contact Opal Hellweg at (951) 955-1030.

2010 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema awards ceremony

2010 IIFC first annual awards ceremony winners

No film festival is complete without an awards ceremony. And the 2010 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (IIFC) is no exception. Awards presenters at the 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 gala included Festival Director Stephen Savage, local celebrity/actor Conor O’Farrell, Hollywood actor Wolfgang Bodison, Renate and Geoffrey Caine, and Riverside County Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone. “The envelope please:”

Selected based on the largest audience for a festival screening

Best of Festival – “Legacy”, Stephen Savage, director

The Tahquitz Awards (audience vote)

Best Feature Film – “Rock Slyde”, Chris Dowling, director
Best Feature Director – Chris Dowling, “Rock Slyde”
Best Feature Screenplay – Chris Dowling, “Rock Slyde”
Best Female Actor, Feature or Short – Kyrie Maezumi, “Legacy”
Best Male Actor, Feature or Short – Rob Evens, “Around”
Best Cinematography, Feature or Short – Thomas L. Callaway, “Broke Sky”
Best Documentary – Cassie Jaye, “Daddy, I Do”
Best Featurette (over 15 less than 60 minutes) – “Dead Cat Bounce”, Daric Gates, director
Best Short (under 15 minutes) – “Wrong Way Up”, Gabriel Hardman, director
Best Director, short film under 15 minutes – “The Hit”, Abazar Khayami, director
Best Screenplay, Short – Tommy Smeltzer, “The Deposition of Lou Bagetta”

Awards chosen by the Geoffrey and Renate Caine

The Renate (best documentary made by an educator) – Jim Rizor, “Ketch My Drift”
The Geoffrey Caine Trophy – (best student film made by a director under 18 years of age) – Rob Miller, “From Page to Stage: The Journey of ‘Heartland’”

Award chosen by Stephen Savage and musician brother Tucker

Marshall Hawkins Award for best original soundtrack – Greg Stitt, “Manhater”

Award chosen by Stephen Savage

The Lily Rock Lifetime Achievement Award – Stephan Gierasch, actor in over 100 films including “Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Hustler,” “Dave,” “What’s Up Doc,” “High Plains Drifter,” “Carrie,” “Silver Streak,” and veteran of some of the best television series ever to air including “M.A.S.H.”, “Cheers,” “Murder She Wrote,” “Studio One,” “Ironside,” “The Mod Squad,” “The Jeffersons,” and “The Twilight Zone.” Eighty Three year old Idyllwild resident Gierasch’s IMDb resume takes up 5 pages, truly a lifetime of achievement which began in 1951 with “The Goodyear Television Playhouse.”

Photos from the Saturday Jan. 16 Rustic Theatre IIFC Awards Ceremony and from Friday night's, Jan. 15 sellout World Premiere of Stephan Savage's "Legacy" are posted on the Town Crier's IIFC blog.

Week end events

This weekend’s, Town Hall Loutzie Volleyball tournament was canceled. Volleyball coordinator, Brian Wilson, had to make this decision because of the lack of teams. He thought the holiday weekend may have been a conflict.

Secondly, there was medical incident at Strawberry plaza, this morning about 10 a.m., Sheriff’s deputies said no arrests were needed and Idyllwild Fire Department emergency medical technicians evaluated the situation and no transport was needed.