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Articles written by Tim O Leary


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  • More than movies await at our historic Mission Theater

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Oct 27, 2024

    To me, Fallbrook is the town that time forgot. A man and his movie theater have been cast in leading roles in this unfolding tale. I marvel at how Fallbrook has retained its dreamy, rural feel even though it anchors a chunk of Southern California and is flanked by state highways and interstate freeways. Ours is a colorful community, and Roy Moosa and his historic Mission Theater are among the most vibrant threads in its tapestry of people and places. I had lived in Fallbrook...

  • Passion for Pickleball revives writer's city mouse vs country mouse dilemma

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Aug 30, 2024

    My passion for pickleball recently revived my internal debate over whether I should abandon my country mouse ways. Let's begin with the basics. Pickleball is a cross between tennis, ping pong and badminton. I began playing it regularly about two years ago. It is fast, fun, friendly and frustrating. It creates and cements friendships. Fitness invigorates a community. Connections strengthen it. From the game's humble start, pickleball has exploded in popularity. It has been...

  • Writer's setting flits on the cusp of change

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Aug 8, 2024

    It's times like these that I look to the Bible. It is 66 books crammed into one, and together they tell of life, love, loss, faith, deceit, weakness, strength, trust and lust. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is "A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance." Today's mental meanderings, kind readers, will keep us close to home – my little neighborhood to be precise. Big changes are afoot here. Once we were a cadre of kindred souls, four neighbors close i...

  • Memories come alive at historic Mission Theater

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Jun 27, 2024

    Family and friends gathered Saturday, June 8, to celebrate the life of Paul Bourque, a father, son, brother, businessman, performer, photographer, philosopher and traveler, at a favorite place, the historic Mission Theater in Fallbrook. My last missive touched on the theater as the staging of a benefit talent show titled the "Fallbrook Follies," and this episode is something of an elegy with words for a man whose memory was recently evoked at that beloved local landmark. I am...

  • Follies create magical moments at Mission Theater

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Jun 23, 2024

    Today, my dear friends, I pray you will indulge me while I spin a seat-of-the-pants yarn about a recent event at one of my favorite haunts. The place is our historic Mission Theater. The event was the June 2 Fallbrook Follies as presented by the Fallbrook Woman's Club. I was thrilled to participate in this folksy gig that sparked many a magical moment at a beloved local landmark. I'll begin with the place. Roy Moosa and his amazing family own the theater. But I call it "our"...

  • String of events bring life, death, healing into focus

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Jun 6, 2024

    I pray, dear reader, that you permit me to detour from the mindless wanderings of my typical prattle. Today's fare will ponder the gift of life, the heartache of death, and the pangs of healing that follow the hurt. My week has been an emotional roller coaster. It will be tough to tell this tale with my usual allotment of ink. The week began with my publisher asking me to write about a local ministry with international ties. Next came the surprise birth of a baby goat, and...

  • Fallbrook Senior Center marks 50th with meals, magic, music and more

    Tim O Leary, Village News Writer|Updated May 23, 2024

    My home-away-from-home marked it's 50th year in fine fettle last week. There was food, a vintage car show, a magician, music and dancing. And, of course, there was plenty of Pickleball. The week began with the public unveiling of the Fallbrook Intergenerational Storyteller Project. That effort combines the experiences of local seniors and the technical expertise of area high school students to create mini-documentaries that will be posted online. About 35 people munched snacks...

  • Appreciation walk ends with a special encounter

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated May 9, 2024

    Serendipity recently led me to a hidden treasure and introduced me to a pixie philanthropist who was a muse for one of the world's great philosophers. This delightful encounter came about through a chance invitation after church on Sunday. It was a dear friend, Lila Sandschulte, who set the hook by telling me that the widow of famed cartoonist Charles M. Schulz would be a special guest at an appreciation walk later that day. I drove directly to the location – the goldfinch arr...

  • Pending departure of longtime friends brings a faraway look to writer's eyes

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated May 2, 2024

    Bob and Kathy Sears, my cherished companions throughout my Fallbrook years, now have that faraway look in their eyes. I know the feeling well. It seeps into the soul when a person has one foot planted firmly in the past and the other dipping a toe into an unknown future. I have visited more than 55 countries and lived in 15 places over my 70 years. The longest stretch – some 21 years – has been spent in my beloved Fallbrook. As it was that we three said: “So long” a few days ago. The Sears are my story today. And togethe...

  • Writer makes another centenarian friend, all the while pondering a wondrous trend

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Apr 12, 2024

    I have often wondered whether longevity is an elixir for those who love life. Lately I have found myself pondering centenarians, how they give us joy for today and hope for the future. I have been blessed to be befriended by many centenarians in my beloved Fallbrook. Come now, dear reader, as I introduce you to some and we together may we marvel over the mystery and magic of living to 100 and beyond. My first friend to stretch her life well past 100 was cantankerous Betty...

  • Writer ponders Fallbrook favorite for seniors: comfort food, conversation, music and more

    Tim O Leary, For those not in the know, S|Updated Feb 22, 2024

    Special to the Village Newst. Patrick's Month is well underway. It begins after Valentine's Day and comes to a foot-stomping finale on March 17. During this gala period, and beyond, my Irish heart indulges in the riches of comfort food, conversation, dancing, music and more at the Fallbrook Community Center. All this unfolds for me simultaneously at the weekday lunches served by the Fallbrook Senior Center. I reveal this at great risk, as I may be slammed by my fellows for...

  • Poetry with Purpose event raises funds to combat suicide among military vets

    Tim O Leary, Village News Correspondent|Updated Feb 16, 2024

    Words make us wonder. Words make us feel. Words help us heal. Those realities dawned on me during the most recent Poetry with Purpose gathering in Temecula, an event that raised funds to prevent suicides among our military veterans. About 40 people paid $15 each to speak and listen Thursday, Jan. 18, at The Coffee Shop, 27725 Jefferson Avenue, a hybrid food and drink business. The beneficiary was a nonprofit group, Save the Brave, and the host. The poetry group was launched...

  • Goat crisis spurs search

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Valley News|Updated Feb 10, 2024

    Hello again, friends and fellow travelers. I come before you today with an announcement and an alert. First the announcement: a stellar column written by your humble narrator last July – which ran under the headline "Writer reports his foray into farming" – has won me a prestigious promotion. I am now the official goat and chicken reporter for a media juggernaut that has become, by default, the lone surviving voice in a vast area that stretches from Bonsall to Lake Els...

  • Power poles deliver double whammy of traffic

    Tim O Leary, Special to the Village News|Updated Jan 25, 2024

    The cone zones are back months after area drivers breathed a sigh of relief in hopes that an agonizing south Fallbrook traffic upgrade was finally in their rear-view mirrors. The big mess is back, but the work is impressive, the waits aren't too long and there's a pleasant cadre of lads controlling the ebb and flow of traffic in a key chunk of South Mission Road. I live in the area where back-to-back projects that began in late 2021 have required scores of lane closures. The f... Full story

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