A Very Meyer Christmas!
2020 was a darn tough year -- but to celebrate our good fortune and boundless hopes for the year ahead, we'd like to invite you to celebrate "A Very Meyer Christmas" with us. Here's how...
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Lost and Found — The Mural of Skagit County Agriculture 1941
This is the story of how a cow’s butt prevented a priceless mural depicting life the Skagit Valley in 1941 from being destroyed in a barn fire.
It’s also the story of the young man who created the mural (and went on to become one of Seattle’s most beloved artists) — which is where this tale begins.
Tales From the Magic Skagit: The Padilla Bay Reserve
Drive just 15 minutes west of I-5 in the Magic Skagit and you’ll find yourself on the edge of the Salish Sea. And tucked just off of Bayview-Edison Road, a bit north of my daughter’s little hamlet of Bay View, you’ll find the Padilla Bay Reserve.
Happy Trails: The Bony Pony Gallops On
Once the new Bony Pony location opened its doors for masked and socially distant shoppers, I knew I had to write a story about it — and not just because Cherie Geerdes’ is a Meyer Sign customer. What I really wanted to know was how a local business has so far managed to survive a public health crises that has shuttered so many other retailers. This story is the answer to that question...in Cheri Geerdes' words.
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Jasper Gates, Mount Vernon Pioneer
At the northeast corner of Main and Gates streets you'll find a statue commemorating the life of the first settler to stake a claim in what would become the city of Mount Vernon. But just who was Jasper Gates?
I’ve Got a Little Story I’d Like to Tell You
If you’ve ever included Meyer Sign & Advertising among your social media haunts, you probably know by now that we like to spin a yarn or two. And since we’ve been doing so for a six years now, I thought it was high time that I introduce myself as the storyteller-in-chief for our website series, “Behind the Sign.”
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Ghosts of the New Deal
The moment I first set eyes on Hillcrest Lodge, my immediate thought was “WPA.” Inside and out, it has that solidly rustic quality that pervades so much of our beloved National Park system.
A Corona Moment with Erin Von Fempe: Home Among the Homeless
Erin Von Fempe of the Mount Vernon Police Department thinks of homelessness and the issues that are its causes and consequences in terms of pathology. “I feel like people without homes in our society are shunned,” she says. “I think most people want to play a positive social role in life, and no one on the street wants to be a drug addict, a transient, or homeless.” This is a story about her job.
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Joe Treat's home and property in Bow, WA are the outdoor gallery for a vast array of in some cases larger than life creatures, all created from pieces of driftwood. You’ll see monkeys, rhinos, giant spiders, unicorns, horses, and elephants. And be forewarned: there be zombies, matey.
A Corona Moment With the Woodland Park Zoo
To deal with our most recent symptoms of pandemic fatigue, my wife and I recently took a day trip to Seattle to visit the Woodland Park Zoo. Our timing turned out to be fortuitous. Despite some trepidation over what that experience would be like under pandemic circumstances, I have to say that it greatly exceeded expectations. Here's why...
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Plying the Skagit
The Skagit River has been a critical artery of transportation for Skagit Valley people going back thousands of years. What has changed over time has been how we've crossed it.
Tales From the Magic Skagit: Confessions of a Fair Wrangler
Even for a self-professed “Type A” personality such as Aric Gaither’s, pulling off the Skagit County Fair every year induces a level of stress for which the motivating compensation is the sheer love of the outcome, and the promise of retreating to the mountains upon its conclusion. It’s a cycle that has defined Aric’s professional life since being thrust into his current role at a pivotal point in the Fair’s history.