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

Fallbrook resident creates Western town front at home

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fallbrook resident Mike Routh had extra time on his hands, so he decided to begin a project to occupy his time.

Routh has been a collision tech for 40 years, and he works at Caliber Collision in Fallbrook. He has lived in Fallbrook since 2000, and he loves being a part of the community.

"I love it here," said Routh. "It's so green, it's very different from where I lived before."

When the COVID-19 shutdown occurred, Routh was only working half days and he wanted to spend his extra time making something meaningful.

He planned to create the front of an entire Western town, based off of the trips he had taken as a child to the ghost town in Oatman, Arizona. Routh said that he had many fond memories associated with Oatman, so he wanted to recreate the town at his home.

Routh began his project by buying different types of wood and materials from locals on Offerup. Many of his friends also donated materials. He was able to find all different types of wood for sale in De Luz, which would all be used in his Western town front.

"I've been going to Oatman since I was a kid," said Routh. "It has so many happy memories for me."

The Western front took him an entire year to complete, but he has plans to add different buildings to it.

"I don't think I'll ever be done working on it," said Routh. "There's always things to be added."

One addition Routh plans to start working on soon is a haunted house front. He would like to include a graveyard, blacklights, and more. He would like to have it complete in time for Halloween this year. Routh also plans to transform his brick wall into an Adobe wall near the Western front.

Routh's Western front has many buildings dedicated to loved ones that have passed on or people who helped to make the project happen. The memorial buildings are Walkers general store which is dedicated to his wife's deceased father and the blacksmith's shop that is dedicated to Routh's deceased stepdad. The barber shop is dedicated to Routh's neighbor, Bob Gilck, because he has donated lots of supplies and props to the project, and Routh said that he is the "ultimate neighbor."

Routh said that he is looking forward to working on the project and continuing to add different aspects to it as time goes on.

 

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