Everything Fallbrook .org

First, off, from CA Fish and Wildlife:

Wolves rarely pose a direct threat to human safety. Wild wolves generally fear and avoid people.

Second, here’s how you identify whether it’s a wolf or coyote or just a dog.

According to Scientific American magazine, wolves have returned to Southern California, to areas burned by wildfires.

Years of drought and rising temperatures have turned California into a tinderbox. Since 2020 millions of acres have burned across the state. The fires have killed forests and people. But fire also brings life: California’s blazes have renourished soil, supercharged grass growth and set the stage for a top predator to reclaim part of its historical stomping grounds.

After the smoke cleared on 2021’s Windy Fire, a pack of wild wolves settled in the burned-out area just three hours north of Los Angeles. It’s the first time in about 150 years that gray wolves have roamed this part of the Golden State.

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One Nextdoor user from east Fallbrook reported seeing a wolf. Another user reported that in the past, there was a wolf sanctuary in Fallbrook and some of the animals escaped and interbred with coyotes, so we have some coywolves here. On a recent walk near Albertson’s, I met a couple with a dog on a leash; the dog went crazy at the sight of me — the woman said that it wasn’t a dog it was a wolf, but I don’t know whether that was true or not. Also, a friend of EverythingFallbrook knew people who raised wolves here in Fallbrook and even used to babysit one!

If you see a wolf, take a picture if you can and report suspected or confirmed wolf sightings and wolf tracks to the CDFW Gray Wolf Sighting Report

At different times, I’ve seen references to Winterwarm and it’s on maps just south of Fallbrook, labelled as if it’s a separate town. The name Winterwarm appears in various places — Yelp has a page for it, Zillow recognizes it, and there’s a Winterwarm Farms on Winterwarm Drive in south Fallbrook.

From the Fallbrook Historical Society:

Winterwarm, sometimes spelled Winterwurm,  was not imagined to be its own town.  It was always intended as a real estate development, called Winterwarm Farms Tract on the old Palomares Ranch that was subdivided into home plots. 

Everyone did their shopping, and the kids went to school in Fallbrook or Bonsall.  In the late 1920s, it was referred to as the Winterwarm Tract. The Fallbrook post office began delivering mail to Winterwarm in 1928.  The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce was very interested in the development of Winterwarm, and all of the former Rancho Monserate.

Information/photos courtesy of Fallbrook Historical Society, curators of Fallbrook history since 1976

There are events all next week to honor the 50th anniversary of the Fallbrook Senior Center on Heald. Check out:

• Fallbrook Storytelling Festival – Monday May 13 at 12:30 pm
• Lunch with Mariachi and tacos – Tuesday May 14 at 10:30 am
• Magician Jerry Longford – Wednesday May 15 at 12:30 pm
• Lunch with 50s and 60s music by Barry Allen Cohen – Thursday May 16 at 10:30 am
• Vintage Car display and Ukulele Strumers – Friday May 17 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Free admission, community is welcome to attend.

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Ah, the good old days! Fallbrook High alumni share more memories on Facebook of growing up in Fallbrook. Kids didn’t have cell phones (gasp!) but they still managed to entertain themselves. Here’s what they remember:

• Running Brooke Road for PE
• Raiding strawberry fields by the Airpark
• Drag races down Chicken Hill, Olive Hill, Gird Road 
• Horseback riding to the Valley Fort, cooking your own steak and playing miniature golf
• Painting the water tower (FPUD now paints the tank itself)
  
• Floods in De Luz and using the chair to winch oneself across the swollen river
• Bowling at Duke Snyder lanes
• De Luz on inner tubes
• Homecoming Floats…Youth fair … Ag Department…4H…FFA
• You mention the Youth Fair and can think of only one word, Grandma Burchett’s Cookies
• Marty’s Gas Station would give out double bubble gum to the customers’ kids
• Sweeping the school parking lot after the Friday night football games
• Cruising the main street of downtown Fallbrook was a big thing on Friday night
• The roller rink was in the big tent, what fun that was 
• The short lived El Dumpo Raceway
• Parties at the rock
• Summer dances were at the VFW Hall with live bands. Cost a quarter.  (Inna godda davida)

Caught in the act! Los Jilgueros volunteers have been sheet mulching: laying cardboard boxes on the ground and then piling mulch on the cardboard. The cardboard keeps down the weeds and as it decomposes, it enriches the soil. The cardboard boxes can be picked up for free from local stores and the mulch is free from tree services who chip trees that they cut down. It is a lot of time/labor though — when I sheet mulched my yard several years ago, it was a LOT of work.

Oldtimers remember when packages were exciting, and the boxes were saved against future shipping needs for sending gifts to family members. During the pandemic, I got into the habit of ordering regular household stuff online, so now I get boxes all the time and they’re boring stuff like cereal and paper products, and I put the boxes into the recycling bin. But using the boxes as sheet mulch is even better because it feeds our soil and lets our plants get established without competing with weeds.

The county has released their latest budget with plans to spend more money and hire more staffers. From the county:

Overall, the recommended budget for 2024-25 totals $8.48 billion, an increase of $317.7 million or 3.9% over the 2023-24 adopted budget, with an emphasis on investments in key priorities while sustaining core services and efficiently managing the growth of staffing.

The plan calls for roughly 72 new positions, a 0.4% increase.

Almost half of the funding comes from federal and state governments, but that money must be used on certain programs. The rest comes from property taxes, fees for services and other sources.

A virtual community meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29.  Visit our open budget page for more information.

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The Historical Society (1730 South Hill) is hosting the Garden Club’s Spring Flower Faire this year. It’s on Saturday May 11 from 9 am to 2 pm — (the day before Mother’s Day) – excellent gift shopping opportunities. From the Garden Club:

We are very excited about this special event. This fundraiser was a great success last year because of the enthusiastic support of our members and the host of volunteers who made it happen. With your help, we hope to make it even bigger this year, so come join in the fun! As they say, it takes a village, and we have a great gardening village!

At their May 9 meeting, the CPUC is scheduled to vote on whether SDG&E should charge a fixed monthly fee while reducing the kWh rate charged for actual power usage. From CalMatters:

On average, electric bills won’t go up or down, but most households aren’t exactly average. Under the proposed change, people who use less electricity will pay a bit more as a result of the fee, while those who rack up large power bills will save thanks to the lower usage rates.

… with a national average of roughly $11 per month, the $24 fee under consideration is still on the high end. Though most households will be compensated, at least partially, through lower rates, that sticker shock has engendered plenty of political outrage.

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