I thought the moon was fascinating and complex? It doesn’t even come close to being as complex as stars. Stars are, for me, the most unfathomable object that I have attempted to learn about. We take them for granted because they are little pin pricks of sparkly light in the night sky that we gaze upon. Sailors have used them for hundreds of years to navigate the seas. But just start to learn about them, and you will quickly be overwhelmed. Here are some amazing things I learned about stars:

• Our universe (just ours) has approximately 1 SEPTILLION (that’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) stars in it. (Our Milky Way which is only 1 arm of our universe, has 7 billion stars).
• Stars are born out of combining clouds of gas and dust that form into seething balls of hot gas that live from 1-100 billion years. Each star has a life cycle that can last a few million to trillions of years before it dies. During their life, they have a chemical dance of pressure that exerts outward pressure in, and inward pressure out so the star doesn’t collapse on itself. This exchange of pressure and energy is the “glow” that we see. Eventually, all stars die (in billions of years), explode and collapse in on themselves and that’s what “Black Holes” are; dead stars. The debris floats around in space and can form planets or other stars. It’s hard to get your head around.
• The sun is the closest and the ONLY star in our galaxy and is considered a “medium sized” star. There are many stars bigger than our sun and many smaller than our sun. The gravity from our star (The Sun) holds all the planets in our galaxy together in our orbit around our sun.
• Every sun is a star, but not every star is a sun. A star has to be big enough to pull other stars and planets into its’ orbit to be considered a sun.
• Our Sun (denoted with a capital “S”) is 4.6 billion years old now and is expected to live several billion more years. It is 93 million miles away from our earth and it’s the closest and only Sun in our galaxy. There are galaxies with more than 1 sun.
• You can only see about 2000 – 2500 of the stars that are actually out there with your eyes.
• The closest star to us other than our sun is called “Proxima Centauri” and is 24 trillion miles away. If we traveled by jet, that would take 5 million years to get to it.
• The light we see from a star, left that star approximately 10,000 years ago. That’s how long it took that light to reach us here on earth.
• The brightest star we can see is called “Deneb” and is 2 Quadrillion miles away.

The next time you’re outside looking up at the stars, I bet you will think just a little deeper about how amazing our universe is, and how little we know about it. It’s MIND-BOGGLING!

If you placed an order for the Feb 13 FoodShare that was canceled, your order has been moved to Feb 27

ORDER ANY TIME PRIOR TO
MONDAY 2/24

Food Distribution – Thurs. Feb. 27th, 2025

MOUNTAIN AID
Need food or other items?
Want to help those who do?
Twice monthly food boxes for every budget.
By ordering a food box, you help pay for those who can’t pay.

Pick-up at Camp Maranatha
54162 Maranatha Dr.
www.MountainAid.net to order

Saturday February 22nd
Volunteer Orientation
Living Free
54250 Keen Camp Rd.
Mountain Center
11 am – 12:30 pm

Ready to make a difference? Become a Living Free Animal Sanctuary Volunteer. We are seeking animal-loving enthusiasts who have a passion for working with animals and want to help our rescue dogs, cats, and horses thrive. Whether it’s walking dogs, socializing cats, assisting at the stables, giving tours, or helping with groundskeeping around the property, your time and care can truly make an impact. Join us for our new volunteer orientation and be part of something special!

Saturday February 22nd
IAA Orchestra and John Walz’s Pacific Trio Perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto
Idyllwild Arts
Lowman Concert Hall
7:30 pm

The esteemed John Walz, Idyllwild Arts faculty emeritus and ‘cellist of the Pacific Trio, is taking the students of the Idyllwild Arts Orchestra on the road for a special performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Palm Springs, reflecting his continued collaboration with Idyllwild Arts as well as his substantial legacy. As a special treat to our community, this program will be previewed in concert at Idyllwild Arts’ acoustically pristine Lowman Concert Hall right here on campus! The program will also include performances by the Pacific Trio and Brahms’s Second Serenade, performed by our Orchestra. 

John Walz, retired ‘cello teacher of many years, first came to Idyllwild as a summer student over 60 years ago. The critically-acclaimed Pacific Trio have performed around the world and previously recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Czech National Orchestra. Dr. Marshall Hawkins will be performing alongside our students, and Dr. Daniel Bassin conducts.  

Tuesday February 25th
Cahuilla Voices
with Kim Marcus
Idyllwild Library
5:00 pm

A presentation of Mt. San Jacinto and Idyllwild, the homeland of the Cahuilla Indians, traditional Cahuilla stories and song, Bird Songs, Cahuilla bow and arrows, and videos on pictographs, Seven Sisters, and the Cahuilla Ceremonial House.  Presented by Kim Marcus, a Cahuilla and Serrano Indian Tribal Elder/Ceremonial Leader who conducts and preserves ancient rituals, customs, and ceremonies.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Idyllwild Library.

Wednesday February 26th
Kids Story Time
“Let it Snow“
Idyllwild Library
11 am

Get your “Locals” Pass NOW!
Just $25

Tuesday March 4th – Saturday March 8th
International Festival of Cinema
Rustic Theatre & Tahquitz Pines
Tickets available NOW for Locals
Just $25 for entire festival

Idyllwild Scholarship Fund
Apply now thru April 9th
Scan the QR Code to apply

If you didn’t get a chance to donate to the Idyllwild Scholarship fund for local seniors, there’s still time….
Click on the link below.

PCT Hiker Season
It’s Almost Here…
Hikers will head our direction starting March 1st.
If you are willing to be a driver and would like to be put on a list of potential drivers, please email me at: hello@goodmorningidyllwild.com

Sunday March 2nd
Oscar Party
Rustic Theatre
4 pm – 8 pm

Tuesday March 4th – Saturday March 8th
International Festival of Cinema
Rustic Theatre & Tahquitz Pines
Tickets available NOW for Locals
Just $25 for entire festival

Snow Plow/Shoveling Services

This list will move toward the bottom of Good Morning Idyllwild in the next issue so if you need it, look further down each newsletter in the “Need to Know” section.

Body & Soul

Click Here for a list of Yoga, Pilates, Aerobics, Meditation & Hypnosis in Idyllwild.

Emergency Radio Station

In Idyllwild, have a portable radio with batteries available and tune into WNKI AM 1610 Radio station for Emergency announcements in Idyllwild.

Delivery in Idyllwild

Bear Necessities Delivered
Groceries/Restaurant Food/Mail/Pharmacy/Etc.
Call or Text: (951) 512-0800
Available 7 Days a Week
Monday – Wednesday 11 am – 8 pm
Thursday – Sunday 8 am – 8 pm
Deliver to Idyllwild, Pine Cove & Mountain Center.

The New Bathrooms are OPEN!
Next door to the Idyllwild Gardens Nursery – Across the street from the Rustic Theatre.
Open Daily 9am – 5pm

Thank you to Shane & Ashley Stewart for donating the land for these bathrooms and to Stephanie Yost with ICC for her persistence with the County of Riverside to FINALLY get us public bathrooms. Thank you to the County of Riverside and Supervisor Manuel Perez for making this happen. It’s been a LONG time coming! Bathrooms will be locked at night.

Hotel Information
Upcoming Weekends
www.IdyLodging.com

Idyllwild Churches

All events, venues & programs run by
Idyllwild Community Center

Fit after 50
Free Exercise Class
Town Hall

Mondays
12-pm – 1pm

Tue/Wed/Thur
10am – 11am

Fridays
12-pm – 1pm

Wednesdays
Sing & Dance with Fran
Ages 2 – 5 years
Town hall
25925 Cedar St.
3:30 – 4:15
$5

Gymnastic Classes
Coming Soon…
Thursdays
Town Hall
4pm – 6pm

FEEDING AMERICA
First Tuesday of each month.

The Visitor Center is now open between the public bathrooms and Idyllwild Gardens on Saturdays & Sundays from 10am – 4pm.

If you would like to volunteer to talk to visitors, help them find their way and point them in the direction of “A Good Time” please contact me at hello@GoodMorningIdyllwild.com.

Click Here to go to the
PCT Information Page