Behind the Sign

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.

January 26, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Angel of Mercy — The Story of Harriet Rowley

I’m a sucker for exploring contemporary links, living and otherwise, between present and past. For me, these are portals to worlds that still resonate with us if we take the time to discover their origin — and so we offer you this one on the history of Rowley General Hospital and the amazing woman, fondly known as “Mother Rowley,” who founded what was Mount Vernon’s first hospital.

January 20, 2022

Tales from the Magic Skagit: A “Simple Conversation” with Jay Bowen (Part 2)

This is the second and final installment of our series, A "Simple Conversation" With Jay Bowen: Art, Death, and Resurrection. In this episode we learn more about Jay's artistic career and a life changing (nearly life ending) incident that distilled his sense of mission as an artist and a human being.

January 16, 2022

Tales From the Magic Skagit: A “Simple Conversation” with Jay Bowen

This is the first in a two part series based on an interview with Skagit Valley artist and member of the Upper Skagit Tribe, Jay Bowen. In Part One ("Origin Story") we'll learn about Jay’s understanding of his tribal past and the glimpses it offers into the “pre-contact” world of our Skagit Valley history, and how that past shaped Jay’s childhood growing up in a culture very different from the one of his ancestors. We’ll follow Jay’s decision at a very young age to become an artist, and we’ll leave him in Santa Fe at a place he describes as “heaven.”

October 26, 2021

Tales From the Magic Skagit: “I Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Stump Farm No More!”

Back in late September, I posted a short video taken along the Padilla Bay trail and asked our Meyer Sign friends and followers to do some history sleuthing. As always, you rose to the occasion...and in the process introduced me to the term "stump farm."

September 29, 2021

Tales From the Magic Skagit: “For As Long as the River Runs Free”

Inscribed on a memorial along Mount Vernon's River Walk are the names of eight loggers who nearly 150 years ago devoted an arduous three years of their lives to removing a barrier on the Skagit River that opened the way for Mount Vernon to become a hub of commerce…and ultimately the county seat of power in the Skagit Valley.

September 17, 2021

Tales From the Magic Skagit: From These Waters

If you've ever driven north on S. 1st Street, Mount Vernon, it’s highly likely that the mural at the intersection with Gates Street caught your eye. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s colorful — and last but not least — it is a swirling tapestry comprised of vignettes about the immigrant experience, particularly as it applies to the Skagit Valley.

August 26, 2021

Tales From the Magic Skagit: The Music Man of Skagit Valley

Hugo Helmer was a musician, a teacher, a band leader, and a businessman whose retain venue continues to thrive under its fourth generation of family ownership. Not bad for a Swedish immigrant whose American Dream started in the rough and tumble of logging and led to the world's first accordion marching band. Broadway couldn't have scripted this story, but you can read it here.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: The Life and Times of “Honker” McCormick

Bruce McCormick is a living link to the Skagit Valley’s pioneer past — a first hand witness to a bygone era of immigrant settlement. For Bruce, that past is more than a collection of newspaper clippings or museum artifacts — it is remembered oral history learned at the knee of his grandfather, David McCormick. They’ll be more to say about David McCormick…but first, l’d like you to meet his grandson.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: The Legacy of Henry Klein, “Town Architect”

The last exhibit featured by the Skagit County Historical Museum in 2020 — before The Great Pandemic put an end to public gatherings — was on the legacy of Henry Klein, the German-born immigrant who founded the first full-service architectural firm in Skagit County, and whose vision defined a design esthetic that has come to be uniquely associated with the Pacific Northwest, even while its “general practitioner” was to become more modestly hailed as “the town architect.” This is his story.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: You Light Up My Life — Day (and Time) Tripping to Newhalem

The 69 miles from my home in Mount Vernon to Newhalem is my favorite Magic Skagit day trip. But it is also a trip through history as well as a journey along the Skagit River to the gateway of the Cascades. Along the way you'll discover the vision of a self-taught engineer and the company town that created a national model for citizen-owned power generation.

Tales From the Magic Skagit: Our Lady of the Tulips

You may be amazed to learn, as I did (thanks to the Skagit County Historical Museum), that the person who is generally credited with being the first to establish our local tulip industry was not a Dutch transplant, but a hearty local varietal who is fondly remembered as Mrs. Mary Stewart of Samish Island. As yet another Tulip Festival draws near, this seems like a good time to tell her story.

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