Two groups reach "historic" agreement

FALLBROOK – Two historical preservation and protection groups – the Fallbrook Historical Society and the Reche Community Club – have agreed to join forces.

As a result of a merger approved by both groups, one of the community’s most historically-significant buildings will soon be owned and operated by the historical society. Once that step and others are taken, the Reche Club, one of the region’s oldest nonprofit groups, will disband.

The latest step in a process that formally began in August unfolded Nov. 14 at the historic schoolhouse at 1319 S. Live Oak Park Road in Fallbrook. That is when Reche Club members voted 19-2 to approve the merger. Under the club’s bylaws, an affirmative vote of Reche members was required for a merger to occur.

Not all of the Reche Club’s members were present for the vote. Four Historical Society directors attended the landmark meeting and vote. Three people who attended the meeting are members of both groups.

"This will be good for the Reche Club and good for the historical society and the community," Roy Moosa, historical society president, said during the question and answer portion of the meeting. "It will increase the visibility and accessibility of the schoolhouse, which is a hidden jewel of our community."

That sentiment was echoed by the Reche Club’s current leader.

"Cohesiveness is crucial in a community, and this merger will benefit our historic schoolhouse and help foster greater unity in our far-flung region," added Tim O’Leary, who has served as the Reche Club president since June.

The Reche Club was established in 1934 to protect and preserve a one-room schoolhouse that dates back to 1886. The building, which burned in 1896 and was rebuilt nearby that same year, has been maintained as a schoolhouse since classes were shifted elsewhere in 1939.

The Fallbrook Historical Society dates back to 1976. It was founded to preserve and protect Fallbrook’s history and to educate the community on Fallbrook’s rich heritage. The facilities at Rockycrest Road and S. Hill Avenue include the Historic Pittenger House, the main museum, the Donald J. Rivers Interpretive Center (the barn), the Ford Room and the Gem and Mineral Room.

The stage was set for the merger in August, which is when the Reche board unanimously agreed to approach the historical society. Reche directors agreed that a merger would be beneficial because the club had scant name recognition in the community and its dwindling membership made it increasingly difficult to hold the semi-annual dinners that raised its operating costs that total about $6,000 a year.

Moosa, O’Leary, and Michael Bermudez, a Reche Club vice president, met on Sept. 9. Later that month, the historical society board voted unanimously to authorize a merger within the framework of five agreed-upon conditions. Moosa and several other historical society directors attended the Oct. 19 Reche Club board meeting to provide information and answer questions.

A key condition states that the building and property must perpetually be maintained as a historic school site. It shall never be sold and the "Fall Brook – Reche School" name shall never be changed.

In addition to the schoolhouse and the property that surrounds it, the Reche Club next year will transfer a certificate of deposit to the Fallbrook Historical Society. Conditions of the merger call for all transferred funds to be placed in a separate account within the historical society’s coffers and that their use is restricted to expenditures that pertain to the schoolhouse and its property.

It is likely that much of the money will be spent to paint the schoolhouse and make other improvements at the property.

Furthermore, one seat on the historical society board will be designated for a representative of the Reche Club for a three-year period. The historical society will create a schoolhouse committee that will make recommendations to its board pertaining to the facility. Such a committee oversees the operations of the historical society’s Pittenger House.

The Fallbrook Historical Society is looking forward to promoting the Reche Schoolhouse to the community and educating the public on the school’s major contribution to Fallbrook’s heritage.