As I’ve biked around Lopez over the past six months, meeting so many people and hearing their stories, the biggest impression left on me is that Lopez is a community in transition. New businesses are popping up, established businesses are expanding, farms are growing, and new families are settling. It seems Lopez has a renewed purpose. That impression…
A predominant theme across all of the subjects of the Project 468 blog is overcoming major challenges. The farmers on Lopez Island are particularly skilled at improvising to beat the odds. Two people in particular have overcome probably the most difficult challenge facing aspiring Lopez farmers: no land. Blake and Julie Johnston moved to Lopez…
When I was growing up in Spokane Valley in the 70s and 80s, one of the permanent fixtures of the landscape was a run-down billboard along Interstate 90 that said: “Future Site of the Spokane Valley Mall.” For 20 years, I’d see that sign almost daily. After a while, it faded into the background. For…
It was the last Saturday in April 2006. Becky Smith was busy running around making sure everything was set for the Tour De Lopez, the annual bike tour around Lopez Island that she started three years earlier. All was ready to go. The signs along the scenic country roads were where they needed to be.…
Project 468 