An old bumper sticker, rarely seen anymore, used to ask, “Where the (heck) is Temecula?”
These days many people know where Temecula is located. And, in four years, the entire world will know with the recent announcement that equestrian events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games are planned to take place at Galway Downs, a 228-acre facility just outside the city limits. Yes, the Olympic flame is coming to Southwest Riverside for a second time. Most of you weren’t here when it first arrived 40 years ago.
The 1984 Olympic torch relay crisscrossed the United States from May 8 until July 28 prior to the Los Angeles Summer Games. A total of 3,636 torchbearers carried the Olympic flame through 33 states, running through big cities and small towns including Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Murrieta and Temecula.
Excitement in the small communities of Southwest County – the 1980 U.S. Census pegged the entire population of the Murrieta-Rancho California-Temecula region at 10,215 – grew as the day of the torch arrival approached.
“It was before I came to town,” said local historian Rebecca Farnbach. “I remember (my late husband) Darrell talking about it. He said it was a huge deal here.”
More than 50 local school children submitted essays about the Olympic Games. Temecula seventh-grader Kevin Smith’s essay “Why the Olympics are Important” was the winning entry and he was chosen as one of the runners to carry the torch through the region.
On July 23, the torch relay began in San Dimas at 6 a.m. and reached Riverside County about 10:30 a.m. Runners traversed portions of Corona, headed south on Temescal Canyon Road, and south on Lake Street entering Lake Elsinore about 4 p.m. where the temperature peaked at 97 degrees.The torch traveled along Lake Shore Drive, turned south on Mission Trail and continued on to Palomar Street into Wildomar where long-time resident Melody Brunsting watched it go past.
“There was a lot of excitement but there weren’t a lot of people living here then,” Brunsting recalled “At the time we had an old gas station with a store at the corner of Palomar and Central. That’s where I stood.”
As quickly as the torch came, it was gone, she said. “There was a lot of pride having it come through our small town, ”Brunsting said.
Palomar Street turns into Washington Avenue in Murrieta which today is a busy throughfare home to Murrieta Valley High School, shopping centers and townhomes. However in 1984 the area was almost entirely open fields until you reached Downtown Murrieta where patrons at a few honky-tonks undoubtedly greeted the runner. From there it was on to Jefferson Avenue south to Temecula, through Old Town Temecula and out of the region. The torch entered San Diego County about 8 p.m. and traveled on Old Highway 395.
Leaving that roadway about midnight the torch relay entered Escondido Hills where my wife and I were waiting. In 1984 we lived adjacent to Center City Parkway and stood with several hundred neighbors, strangers, coolers and flashlights. The lights of police escort appeared followed by a small entourage and then a young African-American man, torch held high, who rushed by. He seem startled to see such a big crowd.
That was the end of the day for the relay. The caravan camped for the night at nearby Escondido High School. The torch then traveled through San Diego County before heading north to Los Angeles. There, on July 28th, it was handed to former Olympian Rafer Johnson who lit the cauldron marking the beginning of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
For as big a “deal” as this was back then, there exists little local record of the day. Historical societies and local museums I contacted had scant information to share.
I’m sure many of you old-time residents do. Maybe between now and 2028, when the torch returns, we can fill in the blanks.
