thedrifter
01-03-07, 06:44 AM
Fallbrook's 'Welcome Home' fence to get cleaner look
By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer
FALLBROOK -- The patriotic banners lashed to a fence near Interstate 15 are intended to warm the hearts of returning Marines, but they usually end up forgotten and tattered, and officials hope that new rules and an organized approach to welcoming home service members will help the area look better.
In recent weeks, volunteers have posted rules, endorsed by county officials, for those who hang messages on the chain-link fence alongside East Mission Road near I-15, where the busy route into Fallbrook turns sharply to the left.
The rules state that signs posted there must contain messages for returning Marines, who often take East Mission Road through Fallbrook to get to Camp Pendleton, and that the signs may only stay up for two weeks, officials said.
Anne Burdick, spokeswoman for the local nonprofit group Keep Fallbrook Clean and Green, said that in the past, no one wanted to remove the signs -- not volunteers working to clean the roadside, and not county officials tasked with maintaining the fence.
"They, like us, really didn't want to touch the military signs, because it just seemed like an intrusion into their message, even though they were tattered and falling apart," said Burdick.
But old and torn signs are an eyesore, she said. As evidence, she cited an instance just before the November election, when a fence near the high school was plastered with candidate endorsements.
In that instance, said Burdick, "The county got so many complaints that they went and took every sign down."
Signs meant for Marines are respected, even admired, within this community, she said, but they still become a problem when they have served their purpose and are still left to decay with the passage of time.
"About four months ago, the East Mission fence was completely covered with 'Welcome Home' signs, and they stayed there for four months and got really tattered," said Burdick. "Nobody wanted to not be respectful to the Marine Corps families by taking any signs down."
"We can kind of understand that if a family member's just returned from a six-month or longer deployment, coming out here to take a banner down did not seem like a high priority," added Bob Leonard, executive director of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce.
Burdick said she contacted Marine Corps officials at Camp Pendleton about the 100-foot section of fence, and proposed some ground rules that could help the area look better.
"They loved the idea that there will be some sort of formal program, so that the signs can be taken down without disrespecting the families," she said. "It was actually their idea that the signs only stay up for two weeks."
Marine Corps officials did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday, but one local veteran said he appreciates seeing the signs and banners encouraging members of the armed forces.
"I think it's great," said John Schnorr, treasurer of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1924 in Fallbrook, and a 20-year veteran Air Force veteran. "When I came back from Vietnam, they didn't have nothing like that out. We sure didn't get any welcome, at least not that kind of one.
"I don't think the public minds it a bit," Schnorr added, referring to the signs.
Leonard said that the chamber is pursuing plans to install a flagpole at the East Mission Road site. He said he has had repeated requests from spouses of Marines to place more patriotic signs and flags along the route between Camp Pendleton and I-15.
"For some reason, quite a few of the Marines have been coming through March Air Force Base on their way home from deployment," he said. "So this is the first place, as you get into Fallbrook, that makes sense" for a welcome-home display.
-- Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer
FALLBROOK -- The patriotic banners lashed to a fence near Interstate 15 are intended to warm the hearts of returning Marines, but they usually end up forgotten and tattered, and officials hope that new rules and an organized approach to welcoming home service members will help the area look better.
In recent weeks, volunteers have posted rules, endorsed by county officials, for those who hang messages on the chain-link fence alongside East Mission Road near I-15, where the busy route into Fallbrook turns sharply to the left.
The rules state that signs posted there must contain messages for returning Marines, who often take East Mission Road through Fallbrook to get to Camp Pendleton, and that the signs may only stay up for two weeks, officials said.
Anne Burdick, spokeswoman for the local nonprofit group Keep Fallbrook Clean and Green, said that in the past, no one wanted to remove the signs -- not volunteers working to clean the roadside, and not county officials tasked with maintaining the fence.
"They, like us, really didn't want to touch the military signs, because it just seemed like an intrusion into their message, even though they were tattered and falling apart," said Burdick.
But old and torn signs are an eyesore, she said. As evidence, she cited an instance just before the November election, when a fence near the high school was plastered with candidate endorsements.
In that instance, said Burdick, "The county got so many complaints that they went and took every sign down."
Signs meant for Marines are respected, even admired, within this community, she said, but they still become a problem when they have served their purpose and are still left to decay with the passage of time.
"About four months ago, the East Mission fence was completely covered with 'Welcome Home' signs, and they stayed there for four months and got really tattered," said Burdick. "Nobody wanted to not be respectful to the Marine Corps families by taking any signs down."
"We can kind of understand that if a family member's just returned from a six-month or longer deployment, coming out here to take a banner down did not seem like a high priority," added Bob Leonard, executive director of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce.
Burdick said she contacted Marine Corps officials at Camp Pendleton about the 100-foot section of fence, and proposed some ground rules that could help the area look better.
"They loved the idea that there will be some sort of formal program, so that the signs can be taken down without disrespecting the families," she said. "It was actually their idea that the signs only stay up for two weeks."
Marine Corps officials did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday, but one local veteran said he appreciates seeing the signs and banners encouraging members of the armed forces.
"I think it's great," said John Schnorr, treasurer of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1924 in Fallbrook, and a 20-year veteran Air Force veteran. "When I came back from Vietnam, they didn't have nothing like that out. We sure didn't get any welcome, at least not that kind of one.
"I don't think the public minds it a bit," Schnorr added, referring to the signs.
Leonard said that the chamber is pursuing plans to install a flagpole at the East Mission Road site. He said he has had repeated requests from spouses of Marines to place more patriotic signs and flags along the route between Camp Pendleton and I-15.
"For some reason, quite a few of the Marines have been coming through March Air Force Base on their way home from deployment," he said. "So this is the first place, as you get into Fallbrook, that makes sense" for a welcome-home display.
-- Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.
Ellie