Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Don McNutt: Fallbrook's 'Keeper of the Benches'

FALLBROOK — If you have noticed the beautiful oak benches that adorn the sidewalks on both sides of Main Avenue in downtown Fallbrook, you have probably also seen – or met – the gregarious caretaker of the benches, Don McNutt. He is not hard to miss, not only in stature but with his broad, beckoning, sit-a-spell smile. Don loves to chat about the benches – or practically any other subject – of interest. He does find time from visiting to work on the benches – and hard work it is.

Although the natural white oak benches are beautiful to look at, they take a beating from the sun and often from skateboards. Stripping, sanding, filing, staining and refinishing must be done every one to two years. This would be similar to having one person maintain the wood on 28 small boats!

Don and his wife, Diane, have been Bonsall/Fallbrook residents for over 20 years. A retired oil company executive, Don lends his organizational talents to several advisory boards in Fallbrook. His favorite community activity, however, is volunteering at the cash register at the Friends of the Library’s Bottom Shelf bookstore.

The program to adopt benches for downtown Fallbrook was initiated by the Fallbrook Save Our Forest (SOF) organization 11 years ago. Not being a city, there was no help with maintaining downtown trees, so SOF launched the bench adoption program as a way of raising money to maintain the trees. It has been a hugely successful endeavor, with the result that downtown has both beautiful trees and beautiful benches.

There is still room for additional benches at various locations. Anyone interested in adopting one can call the coordinator of the program, Anne Richter, at the Fallbrook Land Conservancy office at (760) 728-0889.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 02/24/2024 23:03