Scott Atkins
My family moved to Fallbrook in 1957, when I was 9 years old. We moved here from Vista where my uncle Oliver and my father, Raymond, had established an avocado and citrus nursery after WWII. My grandfather Herbert and his wife Hilma started avocado production in 1926. We lived in the country, and I had the freedom to roam around the ranch and use my imagination to have fun and help with the work. I rode the school bus to school where I met most of my friends. The school bus driver, Chopo Freeman, also became a friend.
Ranch life provided an opportunity to learn exciting things like driving a tractor and a Jeep at 10 years old. My socialization centered on my school bus rides and meeting friends at Live Oak Park to play baseball. I also enjoyed making up games with my brother Bill and sister Carol.
I attended Maie Ellis Elementary, Potter Junior High and Fallbrook High School and graduated in 1965. My focus was sports, but I did pretty well at academics. My favorite class was Agriculture Mechanics taught by Carl Bakken. It covered many skills from welding to carpentry. I graduated from Palomar College, and San Diego State University with a major in Business Marketing and miners in Psychology and Economics.
I had a great career working for the California Division of Highways (now Caltrans) as a Right of Way Agent, and the State Lands Commission. I had the opportunity to work in all parts of California. My area of focus was real estate (acquisition, appraisal, property management, excess lands sales, relocation, airspace leasing and clearance and demolition. I retired after 33 years as Chief of Real Property Services.
I have always been a farmer at heart and that interest, along with my love of Fallbrook brought me back here with my wife Vicky (Miss Lassen County) and daughter Shannon and her son Nathanael. My family is my first priority.
