The Historian
Winter 2015
Published by the Fallbrook Historical Society
P.O. Box 1375, Fallbrook, CA 92088-1375
(760) 723-4125
Historical Society Receives
Donation from Garden Club
Ellie Knight, Roy Moosa, Roberta Kuse.
The Fallbrook Garden Club recently presented a donation of $500, representing the Patron level of
membership, to the Fallbrook Historical Society. Fallbrook Garden Club Co-Presidents Ellie
Knight and Roberta Kuse presented the check October 27th to Roy Moosa, President of the Historical
Society, in appreciation of the use of the Society’s
facilities for special events, and for its role in preserving the heritage of Fallbrook.
The Fallbrook Historical Society was chartered in
1976 and is dedicated to collecting, preserving and
displaying the history and artifacts of the Fallbrook
area. Located at the corner of Rocky Crest and Hill
Streets on the south edge of the Village of Fallbrook,
the Historical Society's beautifully landscaped museum complex includes The Main Museum historical
section, The Bud Francis and Parke McClean Collection of Rocks and Minerals, and The Ford Room,
with antique Ford cars. On the grounds visitors will
also find The Pittenger House, a 1900 restored Victorian farmhouse, and The Barn. For more information see www.fallbrookhistoricalsociety.com.
Fallbrook Garden Club was “planted” in 1931, and
is one of the oldest and largest such clubs in San
Diego County, with nearly 200 members. The Garden Club holds monthly meetings, study groups, and
workshops, along with project support for the La
Paloma Jr. Garden Club, Live Oak Park’s native garden, and civic events, as well as annual alternating
Garden Tours and Flower Shows. The Garden Tour
will be held in 2015 on April 25. For more information, see www.fallbrookgardenclub.org.
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FALLBROOK THEN and NOW….
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About Weather...
Most of us have heard the old saying that if you find yourself in a situation where you can't think up something to talk about, start off by talking
about the weather. You know like " Nice day isn't it. I hear we are supposed
to get rain tonight".
Except for two years in the service in South Carolina , I have always
lived in Fallbrook. I have taken several trips to other parts of the world over
the years but I have never been any place that can beat the climate that we
have here.
When I completed my basic training back in 1955 and was granted a few
days leave to come home, I got off the bus in Oceanside in the middle of the
night and decided I would just start walking to Fallbrook and maybe someone would pick me up. I remember how much I enjoyed just breathing that
coastal air as I trudged along, something that is unique to our area. Some
one did pick me up( by the way) when I was almost to the bridge.
Our temperatures are so mild and our soil so permeable that we are able to grow most anything here. That's what drew our early settlers. They were successful farming produce with only
rainfall in the beginning.
World war 11 was the beginning of other industries coming into our town and that's still going
on but the things we take for granted that we can grow in our own back yards is virtually unmatched
anywhere.
There is a lot of reading matter about things that grow in this area on our book shelves in the
museum. Spending time there is not wasted.
hiSTORYcally Yours ,
Jack
Community Center Tree Lighting Ceremony
The Fallbrook Historical Society manned a booth at the Community Center Tree lighting ceremony earlier in December. Board Member, Mary
Belton, worked the booth along with high school volunteers to help bring
the Historical Society to the estimated 1000 attendees
at the special event.
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Membership Renewal
Don’t forget to renew your membership for 2015.
It will help support the Fallbrook
Historical Society and will keep these
newsletters coming your way.
The Fallbrook Historical Society
Scarecrows earn Honorable Mention
During this year’s fall Scarecrow, contest,
Historical
Society
scarecrows
won
Did you know that the Historical Society Barn
and Ford Room can be rented for meetings and
special occasions?
honorable
mention.
They were
patterned
after a
If you’d like more
information contact
Roy Moosa 760-723-1181
famous
painting
that was
patterned
after a now
famous
couple.
We Need Your E-mail Address.
We’d like to e-mail this newsletter to you along with other Historical Society information. It will save the cost of postage
and will keep you informed on what’s happening on a regular basis. If your received this newsletter by regular mail, then
we don’t have your e-mail address. Please send your e-mail address to:
[email protected]
so that we can add you to our list and keep up updated . Thanks.
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Fire Chief Thurber Tribute Jeep
A re-creation of Fallbrook’s first fire chief, Bill Thurber’s 1951 Willys (M38) Jeep attended it’s first "public outing" a event hosted by the Pala
Fire Department. The restored Jeep came complete with a Dalmatian
dog statue representing the dog Thurber always had.
Mike McDonald, who restored this Jeep said, “ Because we were never
able to locate an actual "in-service" photo of the (real) Thurber Jeep,
this "recreation" is mostly from recollections of me seeing Thurber a
couple of times when I was 8 years old (a l-o-n-g time ago) including
one time seeing Thurber running code westbound on Alvarado from his
residence with "LADY" going nuts in the back (with excitement from the siren).... I was standing on the corner with
my Dad by Sheckel's old Fallbrook Hardware Store, that
later burned down and is the Village Square now”.
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Historical Society Participates in Fallbrook’s Christmas Parade
As a tribute to this year’s Historical
Society Pioneer of the Year,
Arlan Peterson, who recently passed away,
family members entered his decorated old pick up truck
In honor of his memory.
Historical Society has another “An Old Fashioned Christmas Open House”
Once again the Historical Society had its Old Fashioned Christmas Open House. There were arts and crafts
for the kids, a balloon making clown, cookies with hot chocolate, coffee , Christmas music, a giant chess
game outside the barn, the High School Madrigals singing, and, of course, Santa Claus, who arrived at 1
pm. The museum grounds were open to all and everyone had fun taking pictures with Santa.
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2014-2015
Board of Directors
President... Roy Moosa 760-723-1181
Vice President... Dode Martin
Secretary…Maxine Qualls
Treasurer…Sharon Towery
Historian...Sherri Lenfers
Pat Showalter
Leta Hayden
Bob Fender
Jo Griset
Don McLean Sr.
Brice Dennett
Dom McLean Jr.
Bev McDougal
Mary Belton
Bill Ahrend
Honorary Board Member: Jack Story
Historical Society Committee Chairs
Events Committee: Bev McDougal
Website/ Historian: Sherri Lenfers
Newsletter: Roy Moosa
Facilities: Don McLean Jr.
Docent and Volunteer Committee: Pat Showalter
Asset Committee: Evelyn Fisher
Display Committee: Mary Belton
Membership: Sharon Towery, Pat Showalter
Fallbrook Historical Society
Post Office Box 1375
Fallbrook, California 92088
Board Meetings
Board Meetings are normally held the first Tuesday of each month at 10 am in the main museum.
All Board Meetings are open to all members.
If you need more information or would like to
become more involved with the Historical
Society contact Roy Moosa at 760-723-1181.
Membership Information
Membership information is available at the
museum or
call 760-723-4125
website us FallbrookHistoricalSociety.com.
Our email address is:
[email protected]
The Fallbrook Historical Society is open:
Thursdays: 1-4 Pm & Sundays: 1-4 Pm.