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.…
Nothing says love of goats more than a 1200-mile road trip with two goats in your car – with frequent stops to milk them alongside the road. That’s what Andre Entermann did on his move from Southern California to Lopez Island in 2008. Seven years later, his love of goats is as strong as ever.…
In 2003, the FCC advertised the availability of a low-power radio station for the Pacific Northwest, operating at 102.9 FM. Lopez Island had no radio station at the time, so Carol Steckler, Iris Graville and Paul Lewis – along with a few others – began the long and tedious process of applying for the right…
On Saturday night, before a crowd of nearly 150 Lopezians at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts, Scott Steckler told a story from his childhood that changed his life, and the life of countless others, forever. It was 1976. He was nine years old, camping with his family at Odlin Park on the north…
The end of the year is a good time for reflection. As 2014 draws to a close, I’m reflecting on Project 468 – what I’ve done, what I’ve learned, and how I’ll apply those lessons in the future. First, let’s do the numbers: · 3 Lopez Minutes · 19 blog posts · 30 Lopez place pages uploaded to Mixby…
Earlier this fall, my son came home super excited about a new program he’d heard about at school – PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids), which was going to be led every Tuesday by Beth from the library. My wife and I knew he’d love it, so we made sure he quickly turned in his application to…
After people have lived on Lopez for a while, they find themselves giving out free advice for how to make the most of life on the island – everything from when to line up for the ferry to where to catch the best Dungeness crab. Well, after my meeting with two amazing women last Friday,…
These days, the mention of science and farming in the same breath immediately brings to mind the hotly debated issue of GMOs (against which, by the way, San Juan County recently scored a victory). But that’s not necessarily what comes to mind for Nick and Sara Jones of Jones Family Farms. Step inside one of the…
Project 468 