The following news items, which trace some of the storied past of Apple Valley and its residents, were originally reported in the Victor Press and Daily Press.
55 years ago
• District board of trustee members named Lawrence T. Manning the principal of the new junior high school in Apple Valley. Manning had been an assistant principal since 1949.
• Formal groundbreaking ceremonies were held Dec. 29 at the site of the new Apple Valley Junior High School.
• There will be a number of improvements and expansions in housing and recreational facilities at the Apple Valley Inn during 1959, manager Ted Ratcliffe said.
• In order to once and for all establish a definite plan to eliminate the flood conditions of Apple Valley and to improve the flow of traffic, the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce called a meeting in the Blossom Room of the Apple Valley Inn to formulate a plan of action.
• Stoddard Jess Ranch is expanding capacity by 67 percent. Since 1932, the Stoddard Jess Ranch has raised and processed enough turkeys to provide your favorite restaurants with 104,000,000 turkey dinners! They are now in the process of expanding facilities that will increase production another 67 percent. A new 24,000-square-foot processing and freezing plant will be completed by December that will give the ranch a 50,000 pound-a-day production rate, with an ultimate capacity potential of 75,000 pounds daily. Says Stoddard Jess, owner of the 1200-acre ranch, “We expect to turn out 200,000 turkeys a year.”
50 years
• Results of a traffic study on Highway 18 between Apple Valley Road and the freeway in Victorville have led to an increase in speed limits. At Apple Valley Road, the 45 mph zone would be increased to 55 mph for approximately a half mile, then a 50 mph zone would extend to the Mojave River bridge.
• Apple Valley Dairy’s new modern milk-processing plant on Bear Valley Road between Kiowa and Apple Valley roads had its grand opening. Part of the herd were 120 registered brown Swiss cows that were famous for rich milk. More than 600 bottles of milk an hour were filled with the new sanitary machines.
• The Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce moved swiftly to create the town’s first lighting district.
• The Apple Valley Airport is offering free ground school. Flights with a certified flight instructor are $10 an hour, and solo flights are $6.
• A preserved tusk of a woolly mammoth was discovered in Apple Valley. It was estimated to be 15,000 to 20,000 years old. A geologist who observed the scene said the animal appeared to have died in an ancient fire.
• In a memorial gesture to the late baritone John Charles Thomas, his fans and colleagues have contributed funds to build a $1 million John Charles Thomas Apple Blossom Theater and Arts Center in Apple Valley.
• St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital’s request for $91,401 in federal monies for a 20-bed nursing wing was granted in Washington, D.C. The Victor Press was advised of the approval via telegram from Rep. Harry R. Sheppard.
• Newton Bass and Apple Valley won national fame in a feature article in the Saturday Evening Post. The 10-page spread of pictures and text, written by Melvin Durslag, a Los Angeles newspaper columnist, dealt with the upswing of racing and breeding of horses in the West, and California in particular.
45 years
• Planners have announced bids for a $500,000 four-lane construction of Highway 18 between Standing Rock and Atnah roads. Actual construction is set to begin Aug. 12 and should take six months to complete, said R. B. Findley, construction engineer for California Division of Highways.
• Gathered for the first time together, six living children plus spouses and 13 grandchildren joined their famous relatives, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, to tape a guest appearance for the “Jonathan Winters Show” to air on the CBS Television network.
• “Apples for Apple Valley” was the theme of ceremonies by the Kiwanis Club with the assistance of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. “We’re tired of hearing there are no apple trees in Apple Valley, so we have launched a drive to have every homeowner and business firm plant one or more apple trees on their property,” declared Lionel Halbe, Kiwanis lieutenant governor for this district. Back in the 1920s, Apple Valley was noted for its “Delicious” variety. The depression saw Apple Valley’s apple sales plunge. Lack and high cost of water supplies were the main factor.
• Officials plan to begin construction of the $4 million Hi Desert Convention Center in Apple Valley. A convention center official said the center will bring millions of dollars to the Victor Valley.
• A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the $15 million Mojave Forks flood control dam at the end of the paved portion of Deep Creek Road. Among those in attendance were 1st District Supervisor Ross Dana, Chief Engineer for the San Bernardino County Flood Control District M.A. Nicholas and Miss Apple Valley Rhonda Brokaw.
40 years
• The Apple Valley Branch Library recently celebrated 24 years of service to the community. The branch has grown from a collection of 200 books to approximately 20,000 items, including films and records.
• Beccy James, an Apple Valley High School graduate and student at Cal State Fresno, was the first “marching violin” in the school band and possibly the nation.
• Hugo Ferrarese, who founded Hugo’s Delicatessen and Liquor store in Apple Valley 17 years ago, died in Fort Jones.
• An estimated $1 million was the price tag put on the cost of a bridge across the Mojave River from Apple Valley to the Victorville area by Elaine Marable, field representative for 1st District Supervisor James L. Mayfield during a town hall meeting. The amount would provide a 72-foot-wide structure from the river bank at Yucca Loma Road to the opposite side near Yates Road
• Rick Berg, center fielder for the Apple Valley High School Sun Devils, signed with the Boston Red Sox. He was selected in the ninth round of the spring baseball draft and was assigned to their single-A farm team in Elmira, N.Y.
35 years
• Seventh-graders will call portable classrooms “school” next year while eighth-graders remain in the permanent building at Apple Valley Junior High School. The school board approved a split campus for the overcrowded junior high, dividing seventh-and eighth-graders into separate classrooms as an alternative to going year-round.
• The Victor Valley Daily Press inaugurated its open B-1 page to bring news and features to its readers. The first open B-1 page featured the area’s first extensive interview with its most famous resident, actor, singing cowboy, Roy Rogers, since he had open-heart surgery.
• After 32 years in the business, famed Jess Ranch will stop its turkey production. Increased production, overhead costs and a shrinking market were cited for causing the business to lose money over the past couple of years. Despite the bleak picture for the turkey operation, trout and alfalfa production will carry on.
30 years
• The Jess Ranch Corp. has submitted plans to the San Bernardino County Planning Department for a gigantic 4,800-unit community for senior citizens.
• Newton T. Bass, founder of Apple Valley, died at St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital. He was 79. Long-time friend and business associate of Bass, Louis F. Heitzig, said: “Apple Valley wouldn’t be what it is without the planning of Newt Bass.”
• Apple Valley celebrated the 36th annual Pow Wow Days by crowning the honorary mayor and presenting a burro derby and colorful American Indian dancing.
• Tom Schibusch, of the local chapter of the March of Dimes Foundation, appeared on national television as part of the foundation’s weekend telethon. The telethon aired on KCOP Channel 13 and ran for 21 hours. Schibusch is well known for his work with the March of Dimes.
• Apple Valley resident Shirley Thagard’s stepson, Dr. Norman Thagard, will be one of the astronaut-physicians on board the space shuttle Challenger on its second flight. He’s going to study the effects of “space sickness.” The sickness sometimes causes cold sweating, dizziness, a weak appetite, pallor and nausea. Part of his job will be to find clues as to why space sickness affects some astronauts and not others.
• Apple Valley Rotarians have constructed a building to house the area’s first petting zoo at the Mojave Narrows Regional Park. Construction of the zoo was sponsored by the Mojave Zoological Society and featured domesticated animals such as ponies, goats, rabbits, lambs, ducks and chickens.
• The Victor Valley Animal Protective League’s animal shelter in Apple Valley got $40,372 worth of improvements, including a 1,094-square-foot addition and remodeling of the existing building.
• The Overland Meat Co. on Highway 18 in Apple Valley announced its grand opening.
25 years
• More than 83 percent of voters in the Nov. 8 election favor Measure K, the incorporation of the Town of Apple Valley. Voters also narrowly elect council members Jack Collingsworth, Carl Coleman, Heidi Larkin, Dick Pearson and Nick DePrisco. Nearly 70 percent of voters approve Measure L, determining that future council members would be elected at-large.
• The Apple Valley Unified School District board of trustees allocated $100,000 from a special reserve fund for construction of the planned Newton T. Bass stadium in hopes of inspiring private donations to continue.
• About 150 Apple Valley residents told a Moreno Valley mining company that they oppose plans for a rock-crushing plant near their homes.
• A San Francisco development company plans to replace the driving range on Rancherias Road with a shopping center. Apple Valley residents said they’d prefer upscale stores rather than a supermarket, as planned. Apple Valley Community Advisory Program members were told the shopping center would be behind the Buffalo Trading Post on Outer Highway 18 and Rancherias Road. Representatives of the San Francisco company said that special care would be given so that the shopping center wouldn’t lead to a plethora of businesses opening up there.
• The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have approved a smaller sized lot subdivision in Apple Valley, but in the same breath set a minimum lot size for the entire High Desert.
• An anonymous person donated $2,800 to continue paying for a crossing guard in front of the local junior high school in Apple Valley. The donation will pay the crossing guard’s expense October through June. The guard helps students cross at the crosswalk at Pahute and Navajo roads.
20 years
• The first cornea transplant at St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital in Apple Valley took place. The patient was Judy Kyser of Apple Valley. Her surgeon was Dr. Robert Fabricant, who was the medical director and ophthalmologist at the Pacific Eye Institute in Victorville and Upland.
• Plans were announced for a 17-acre recreation and commercial center that will feature a theater complex, shops and sit-down restaurants near the Newton T. Bass Stadium in Apple Valley. The project was approved unanimously by the Town Council.
• Supporters of Measure W took a bus trip to “show off” conditions of which they were not proud. Measure W is the Apple Valley Unified School District’s attempt to raise $37 million for building a new high school and renovating older schools. The bus tour traveled to the district’s three oldest elementary schools and to its three secondary schools. Participants also saw the vacant land where AVUSD hoped to build a second high school.
• To serve the influx of aircraft enthusiasts, San Bernardino County announced it wants build 20 additional hangars at the Apple Valley Airport at $650,000.
• Kevin Biggers of Apple Valley was a floor whip at the state Democratic convention in Sacramento. He whipped for television commentator Bill Press, running for chairman of the California Democratic party and also for Tal Finney, a Los Angeles attorney, seeking to become state party controller.
• Apple Valley Town Council members were given the go-ahead to acquire from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management the two Bell mountains at the town’s northwest edge. “They are of great importance because they are landmarks,” said Paul Heller, administrative assistant in the town manager’s office.
15 years
• Roy Rogers, a Victor Valley resident for more than 30 years, passed away on July 6, 1998. He was 86. Rogers’ entertainment career spanned multiple decades. Nicknamed the “King of the Cowboys,” he appeared in more than 100 films, earning a listing alongside Abraham Lincoln as one of the people most admired by children. His golden palomino, Trigger, who shared star billing on the big screen with Rogers’, died 33 years and four days earlier on July 2, 1964.
• Colleagues of Friends of Apple Valley Library named Betty Miller as Volunteer of the Year. The award is based on the person’s contributions of time and energy. The competition was stiff.
• Joshan Durbin, an 8-year old from Apple Valley, appeared at the American Black-Belt Championships, a Martial Arts event shown on national pay-per-view. Joshua had already won more than 100 karate trophies.
• Stan Halperin, Apple Valley Unified School District superintendent, got the surprise of his life when his name was announced as the Administrator of the Year for San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Halperin was also runner-up for the Distinguished Service Award presented by the Association of California School Administrators.
• More than 1,000 people attended the dedication and expansion of the former Science and Technology Center. The Lewis Center for Educational Research opened to a day of accomplishments and memories. Much to the surprise of Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, the rechristened center was named after him.
10 years
• Among the thousands who made up the mobile cast of the Tournament of Roses parade were two Apple Valley students who said they played their hearts out as part of the annual floral spectacular. Apple Valley High School student Joshua Salazar said his hands began to shake as the Tournament of Roses Honor Band made the turn to begin the 5 1⁄2-mile march down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. Drum major and tuba player Adam Clevinger of Granite Hills High School also marched in the famous parade. This was the second time the 17-year-old made the parade’s honor band.
• Almost two months after a local environmental group won an injunction stopping work on the Wal-Mart distribution center in north Apple Valley, a judge has thrown out the order, giving Wal-Mart permission to resume construction.
• A Walgreens pharmacy and a new road and four-way intersection at Highway 18 just west of Dale Evans Parkway are in the works, town officials announced. The new road would cut between an existing Wal-Mart and Albertsons grocery store, cross Highway 18, and continue north, bending into Dale Evans Parkway. A four-way intersection would be constructed at Highway 18 and would include a crosswalk for pedestrians.
• The picture Apple Valley Mayor Tim Jasper painted of life in his town is as rosy as one of the eponymous fruits that these days are only as close as the nearest grocery store. In his State of the Town address, Jasper assured a packed Apple Valley Country Club dining hall that despite California’s travails, Apple Valley’s slogan promising a better way of life continues to describe his constituents’ future.
• A dozen business owners in Apple Valley’s Village district on or near Highway 18, met Tuesday to review preliminary drawings of a planned rejuvenation project. But those in attendance expressed dissatisfaction with the proposals from RRM Design Group. The drawings depicted a village radically different from existing structures, with a theme RRM representative Mark Brodeur called “Western frontier.” The merchants asked Brodeur for another drawing, one they could use to convince the rest of area business owners to approve a special tax to pay for the improvements. Plans include new thematic architecture and street lights, and better sidewalks, landscaping and other improvements, all united by a common design motif.
• The High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in Apple Valley is 60 percent complete, and the county doesn’t have enough juvenile offenders to fill it. That was unwelcome news because the terms of a grant agreement states the center must be fully staffed in order to get the cash, county officials said Wednesday. But the Board of Supervisors sighed in relief when state officials said they’ll give them $19.3 million anyway.
• The Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce’s board elected a new president and chief executive officer, the chamber announced Monday. Janice Moore, the marketing director for Inland Empire Tech Source, a division of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, will serve as the chamber’s new president and CEO, chamber Chairman Janice Flinn said. Moore fills the dual position left vacant in July by predecessor Danielle Watson.
• After years of public meetings, studies by consultants, engineering designs and traffic projections, Apple Valley officials will present their plan for widening Apple Valley Road Wednesday night. The plan, which has yet to be approved by the Town Council, will detail RBF Consulting’s design for widening the road from two lanes to four lanes between Yucca Loma Road and Highway 18.
5 years
• A large bronze plaque bearing the year 1946 was unveiled on the western facade of Town Hall, honoring business partners Newton T. Bass and Bernard “Bud” Westlund. The plaque captures an image of Westlund and Bass side by side.
• Frank Robinson was announced as the new Town Manager at a June council meeting. Robinson took over for Jim Cox, who had been serving as interim manager since September 2007.
• Plans for the town’s first “purpose-built” animal shelter have been approved and bids are being accepted for the project’s construction. The goal for opening the new Apple Valley Animal Shelter is by the end of 2009. It’s to be located at the southeast corner of Powhatan and Quinnault roads. Funding for the $8 million project is coming from bonds issued by the town against increased tax revenues from redevelopment areas.
• Bicycling enthusiast and Apple Valley resident Chuck Hanson and the Apple Valley Fire Protection District have organized the first 30.8-mile Tour de Apple Valley. The ride will benefit the Apple Valley Police Assistance League.
• The Town Council voted 4-0 to purchase the Apple Valley Country Club and open the facility to the public just months after celebrating its 60th anniversary.
• The Town has launched a Military Recognition Banner Program to honor Apple Valley residents who are serving in the armed forces. The first set of banners was unveiled at the town’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in October.
• In December, the town reached a milestone in its Adopt-A-Street program: More than 100 miles of its roadways have been adopted, accounting for more than 25 percent of the total roads in Apple Valley.