Can you spot some of the locals on these maps?

Some original cartoon maps that gained a lot of attention in 2001 recently resurfaced.

Brett Stokes, an illustrator of the original Fallbrook cartoon maps, put together several maps featuring businesses that had paid for advertising. While some people found the maps humorous, some of the depictions of things on the map near the businesses didn't make them too happy, and many of the maps were thrown away.

Some individuals, however, still have a few.

Rocio Ramirez Reynoso recently found out from her husband that her uncle, Felipe, was one of the locals featured on the maps.

"A lot of people had a nickname for him which was 'Pancho Villa' because of his sombrero," Reynoso said. "My uncle was known as just smiling at everybody; he was always helpful and he always carried some sort of fruit in his truck; always giving it away to whoever, doesn't matter if he knew them or not."

Reynoso added that he was an amazing man, and was known for several things in Fallbrook. "His sombrero, his dog, and his machete," she said, adding, "he always carried a big old knife, of course when it was legal."

"He was always a helpful person, we could always count on him," she said.

Felipe passed away recently, but even now Stokes remembers him.

"I saw him, we waved at each other, and my girlfriend lived next door to them," Stokes said. "I talked to them a couple years ago, over at his house, but he was always driving around; he had a dog in the back of his truck that was always barking...he was a pretty cool guy."

Stokes placed others on the map, including his parents, an art patron, and others who he had known growing up in Fallbrook.

Stokes admitted some of the things he put on the maps were a bit off color.

"I mean I've got a pretty lively imagination and so, I was trying to do the right thing," Stokes said. "A lot of people threw the maps away, and then people wanted to know what the uproar was, so they were asking these people that already got rid of the maps because then all of a sudden people wanted to see what was up. I thought they were gonna come to my house with torches and pitchforks."

Stokes put every business on the maps that paid to be on it, but adding the Fallbrook icons was a personal touch.

"I had blank spots in areas cause most of the businesses were the main street area, things like that, but then I'd have to fill it out to kind of go out, I put avocado groves and some golf courses, things like that," he added.

A good friend of Stokes, Dana McCarthy, was also added to the map alongside her family. McCarthy currently sits as the president of the Fallbrook VFW Post 1924 Auxiliary.

"So my daughter had this – well actually she still has it, it's still in the garage, it's this little red 4 by 4 jeep that she used to drive around," McCarthy said. "She was like 2 years old and he drew that on one of the maps, and he put my mom falling off of it, me in the back seat and my dad."

McCarthy has known Stokes for over 30 years, and they're good friends.

"He's been to my sister's wedding, my father and my grandfather's funeral services; he's part of the family now," she said.

McCarthy added that Stokes had told her he always put his favorite people on there.

"He put us in a location of where our house was, which was kind of across from Zion Lutheran, over off of Stagecoach," McCarthy said. "He put us kind of over there where we lived."

McCarthy added that Stokes would be up for doing another map in the future if businesses were interested.

"If there's enough interest, Brett would do another map," McCarthy said. "I'd be putting it together and selling it; we talked about it the other night."

McCarthy added that it was an honor to be put on the map.

"He put select friends and funny little things," McCarthy said. "Some people would get kind of feisty with him and some people weren't always happy with what he did, but it was so great, and now it's historical for Fallbrook."

If a business is interested in being put on another (potential) map, McCarthy can be contacted at [email protected].

Lexington Howe can be reached by email at [email protected].