Local Brits remember and honor the past

FALLBROOK – Fallbrook's Excalibur chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire made a donation to Save Our Forest/Fallbrook Land Conservancy to dedicate a tree in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in an auto accident in Aug. 30, 1997.

Now renamed "British Friends of Fallbrook and Bonsall," members met Sunday, Aug. 30, at the tree site to honor that memory. The local philanthropic group was chartered in 1983. Their efforts in the past have been to raise funds for various Fallbrook charitable organizations and keep their ties to the countries of their birth alive.

The "Diana" tree is located at the corner of Main Avenue and Alvarado Street, planted in an above ground container. In 1998, when the tree was originally planted in Diana's memory, the report from Dig Alert marked a FPUD sewer line right under the sidewalk at that site.

"Oh! Oh! We can't plant a tree over an ancient clay sewer line, whose roots could invade it at a joint," SOF chair Jackie Heyneman said. "There are some in-ground trees already in that block done long ago. But, because Save Our Forest wanted to conform with current rules, it was the above-ground method or not at all."

There is a limit of lifetime in a planter or container for any kind of tree. This tree has been replaced once already and will be again to remember Diana. But the continuity of the line of trees on the Main thoroughfare must not be broken.

Save Our Forest has the express purpose of keeping Fallbrook green and beautiful, protecting the wildlife corridor, and most importantly providing for a healthful atmosphere. There it is, and will be, to remind the folks of Fallbrook that the Brits loved Diana, but love Fallbrook as their home, too. SOF is grateful to the group for their contribution to their community forest.

Submitted by Save Our Forest.