Beech St. Park to be named for Jackie Heyneman; dedication event May 5 open to the public

On Saturday, May 5, at 11 a.m., one of Fallbrook’s most well known and respected volunteers, Jackie Heyneman will be honored by two local organizations who have arranged for a local park to carry her name. Beech Street Park, located at Beech Street and South Mission Road, will be rededicated as Jackie Heyneman Park.

“We want to honor Jackie in a permanent way,” said Vince Ross, president of the Fallbrook Village Association (FVA), the nonprofit organization which developed and owns the park. FVA decided on the name change for the park together with the Fallbrook Land Conservancy (FLC).

“This is a way we can honor one of our most hard-working volunteers and we have recorded the paperwork to make it official,” said Ross.

The park is an appropriate choice as Heyneman’s efforts have largely involved reforesting Fallbrook, throughout the downtown area as well as the conservancy’s preserves. Heyneman is the founder of the Save Our Forest effort within the FLC and developed the Treescape program for downtown Fallbrook along with Roger Boddaert and John Dahl.

“Jackie, Roger, and John initiated [the Treescape program], then Jackie carried it forward,” said Ross, adding that the program was also a goal of the Fallbrook Village Association. “We were trying to build a base to eliminate blight and make Fallbrook more pedestrian-friendly.”

Wallace Tucker, president of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy validated why Heyneman deserves the honor.

“Jackie is a person who has the ability to do the planning for a project, the ability to work through the bureaucracy, and carry the project through to implementation.” Tucker felt a comment from a Czechoslovakian prime minister summed it up best. “It’s not enough to stare up the steps; you have to be willing to step up the stairs.” Tucker also noted that Heyneman has made “a significant educational impact” on local children when it comes to the betterment of the local environment.

Heyneman is no stranger to receiving awards. She has received many over the years: Citizen of the Year (Chamber of Commerce, 1986), Christmas Parade Grand Marshall (Chamber of Commerce), Woman of Distinction (Soroptimist, 1986), Distinguished Service Award (County of San Diego 5th District, 1988), Leadership Award (Channel 10, 2001), Lifetime Achievement (Chamber of Commerce, 2006), Tree Hero Award (California ReLeaf, 1996), the Dove Award (ARC, 1986), and many, many others.

She is humbled and appreciative of the latest honor, but makes it clear she does not act alone.

“I work with the best group of people (volunteers),” said Heyneman. “I could never do this by myself. I am realizing my age at this point.”

Heyneman has spearheaded drives to secure over $250,000 in grants to help plant trees in Fallbrook.

“We have been able to plant 2,560 trees thus far,” said Heyneman. “Those have been planted in the greater Fallbrook area from East Mission Road near Interstate 15 all the way down to Fallbrook High School. That number does not include the thousands planted in the local preserves.”

She also helped establish the Adopt-A-Tree and Adopt-A-Bench programs to help provide funds for maintenance of the trees.

In addition to her involvements listed above, Heyneman’s positive touch has been felt in other organizations, including the Fallbrook Beautification Alliance, Keep Fallbrook Clean & Green, Boys & Girls Clubs of North County, Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, National Charity League, Girl Scouts of America, and at local schools. In 2008, she was elected to the board of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group and serves on the sub-committees for Land Use, Parks & Recreation and Design Review.

However, the passion she has for reforesting Fallbrook towers above her many other endeavors.

“I’ve done a lot of stuff in my life, but this has been the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done, because when I drive around town I can see the results of this effort,” she said. “The other pleasure I get is in the knowledge that everyone else can too. It’s the number one thing I’ve accomplished in my life.”

Born, raised, and educated in Norwalk, Calif., Heyneman moved to Fallbrook in 1972 with now-deceased husband, Russell E. Heyneman, USN Ret.

“Prior to moving here, we lived in Armona (in the San Joaquin Valley) for 12 years, because my husband was stationed at Lemoore, which is 40 miles south of Fresno,” said Heyneman.

She explained how the couple came to choose Fallbrook as their retirement home.

“After 27 years with the Navy and living in many different places, I got to choose our retirement spot and I chose Fallbrook,” she said, with a smile. “We lived in the flatlands and this was so different, we loved it. I like it so well, I’m never leaving.”

What triggered Heyneman’s driving passion for trees occurred shortly after she moved here.

“In 1972, the County of San Diego had an idea to straighten the picturesque, winding Live Oak Park Road; I was the co-founder of the group known as Save the Oaks, opposing that idea,” she explained. “We ended up saving 22 trees, only two had to be removed. The same situation reared its head again in 1992 due to problems with clearance for buses due to the canopy of oaks. The county had marked a lot of trees for removal, but we effectively minimized that to only what was absolutely necessary.” Save the Oaks became known as Save Our Forest and moved under the umbrella of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy in 1993.

“At that point, some 165 oak trees had been planted along Live Oak Park Road and surrounding areas,” she said.

Her work has not been without its challenges, Heyneman admits.

“It’s not all been successful; [re-foresting] is not self-sustaining,” she explained. “We still have to beat the bushes for donations and we have to pay some for help. There is stuff we volunteers can’t do ourselves – especially pruning tall trees and the work on steep hillsides.”

Heyneman also said another challenge has been when tree sponsors go by the wayside.

“Sometimes tree sponsors don’t come through, business or property ownership can change, and sometimes new people don’t want the commitment.”

Those are the reasons Heyneman and her fellow volunteers are strongly focusing on an endowment program.

“We are creating an endowment fund,” she said. “We have tried to frugally save our money. I am looking to the future and realize we need an endowment fund to support community reforesting and maintenance. I will be doing a lot of outreach on that.”

Ross and Tucker agreed the endeavor is vital to sustaining the program.

“An endowment is critical to Save Our Forest, to continue these programs and fund them,” said Ross. “With the dedication of this park in her name, we not only want to thank Jackie, but encourage other people to volunteer and help with the endowment. We are hoping others will follow her lead.”

Heyneman said she has no intention of retiring from what she is doing currently, and has two important irons in the fire.

“I am currently waiting to hear from Caltrans regarding an environmental enhancement and mitigation grant that is usually made available,” she said. “I want to see if we can reforest the land along Old Highway 395 that was burned in the 2007 Rice Fire. It’s about a three mile stretch of area. We have oak trees waiting that can be planted there.”

“The other is to encourage contributions to the endowment fund; those are what are on my mind right now,” said Heyneman.

The May 5 event is open to the public and being organized by FLC volunteers Beverly Tucker and Lila Sandschulte.

To contribute to the reforesting effort in Heyneman’s honor, visit http://www.fallbrooklandconservancy.org, call (760) 728-0889, or mail a donation to FLC, in honor of Jackie Heyneman, P.O. Box 2701, Fallbrook, CA 92088.

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