Behind the Sign

February 28, 2022

Across The Great Divide: Seven Days in September (Part 1)

There were a number of times throughout its epic 8,000 mile journey to the Pacific Ocean and back that the Corps of Discovery might have foundered. One of these points was during its crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains from what is today Montana to Idaho in September 1805. What follows is a day-by-day account of the most arduous week of that journey. You might want a fleece blankie and a cup of hot cocoa while reading this. Things are about to get very wet and chilly.

February 16, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Bohemian Rhapsody — The Love Story of Ann & Max Meerkerk

Over the nearly twenty years of their lives together, Max and Ann Meerkerk marriage was full of adventures and accomplishments that could have filled a multitude of lifetimes. If their lifestyle seemed a tad bohemian, Max and Ann's singular personalities harmonized into a rhapsody that echoes sweetly still, and lives on in a garden of earthly delights.

February 11, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Art, Love, and Courage — The Legacy of Jesus Guillén

Jesus Guillén came to the Skagit Valley as many immigrants did, in the hope of a better life for himself and his family. He pursued that goal not only as an agricultural worker, but as an artist who celebrated his fellow farmworkers and the beauty of the fields and landscapes where they labored. Thanks to his artistic vision, us Skagitonians are able to see ourselves and the place we've chosen to live in a way no other artist has depicted. This is a brief overview of his life and legacy.

February 10, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Remembering 1968

After weeks of "sprucing up," the Skagit County Historical Museum will re-open on February 11 with its first exhibit for 2022, entitled "1968: The Year That Rocked Washington." 1968 rocked in a lot of ways, good and bad, and its tremors can still be felt today. Meyer Sign plans to not only write about the exhibit, but explore some of the themes that come out of it -- and we hope our faithful and ever engaged readers will contribute their memories in reflecting on its significance to life in the Skagit Valley and beyond.

February 1, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Mount Vernon General Hospital

By all accounts, the first hospital in Mount Vernon was Mount Vernon General Hospital -- just around the corner from another early Mount Vernon hospital founded by Harriet Rowley. A magazine article in the Library of Congress, published in 1921 by the Herald Publishing Company offers a Chamber of Commerce-worthy description of its founding.

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