Behind the Sign

September 15, 2020

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...

September 9, 2020

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.

September 2, 2020

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.

August 17, 2020

Tales From the Magic Skagit: All in Love is Fair

August is Fair Month, which makes it a cherished four weeks on my calendar. Take the Fair out of August and what you’re left with is parched grass, wilted gardens, dust, grasshoppers, and sticky nights without A/C. Thanks, but no thanks.

August 14, 2020

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Valley of Our Spirits

The inspiration for the 20-foot metal sculpture that rises compellingly over the plaza of Mount Vernon’s Riverwalk, at the west end of Gates Street, is one that goes back 170 years. Its origin story was bequeathed to its designer, artist and Upper Skagit tribal member Jay Bowen, by his great-great-grandfather and is at the heart of the totem pole that he and two fellow artists created known as "Valley of Our Spirits."

Tales From the Magic Skagit: A World Without Walls — The Legacy of Winifred Ruth Smith Bradford

Of the many lives lost in the midst of the Great Pandemic of 2020, there was one soul the coronavirus did not claim. On July 19, 2020, Winifred Ruth Smith Bradford died peacefully at home, just two years short of a century marked by love and service. The Skagit Valley is a poorer place for her absence, but enriched by her legacy.

This Is The Plane That Ken Built, Ya’ll

Ken Hitt built his very own airplane from a kit. Let me just pause…and then repeat that first sentence for further effect. Ken Hitt built his very own airplane from a kit. By himself.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Slough and Easy Does It

Need a break from the outbreak We’ve got your venue just inland from the Skagit Bay Estuary Wildlife Area. It’s known as Wiley Slough, and the cost of admission is a Discover Pass.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Come on Home to Green River

Thanks to living in the Skagit Valley, the magic portal to the muse that could have inspired a Creedence Clearwater Revival hit is less than 4.5 miles from my driveway, on a pull-out at the intersection of Dike and West Stackpole Roads.

Postcards From the Road: Greetings from the North End!

In a state that is unabashedly red to its rural core, Boise’s North End color scheme runs from deep purple to navy blue. And while it may have fewer hipsters than Seattle, you can bet they’ll whip your butt on a mountain bike trail.

A Corona Moment with Chief of Police Chris Cammock

At a time of intense national scrutiny of the relationship between law enforcement organizations and the communities they serve, the following anecdote will tell you a lot about the Mount Vernon Police Department’s relationship with its citizenry. You can read it in this interview with Mount Vernon's Chief of Police, Chris Cammock.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: A Tulip Poplar Grows in Mount Vernon (Pt. 2)

In Part 2 of our story about one of the most magnificent trees of the Skagit Valley, we’ll work our way a little deeper into the mists of time in telling its story — and we’ll invite you to help us fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Load More Posts

Menu

Menu

Social