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Three years ago Meyer Sign & Advertising Company launched a blog series dedicated to “telling the stories of the people, places and things that make the Skagit Valley a magical place to live.” The Mount Vernon business called this “Tales of the Magic Skagit.”

Some 80 episodes later, not counting many other stories that make up the “Behind the Sign” section of their website (www.meyersign/articles), “Tales of the Magic Skagit” has attracted a respectable and highly engaged audience that not only enjoys reading stories of their community’s past and present, but also enjoys sharing their personal relationships to those stories.

Last spring the company expanded the “Tales of the Magic Skagit” media platform beyond its website and Facebook presence to include an eponymous podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts. This is where “Beaver Tales” comes in.

In sharing the history of our Skagit Valley home, it was very clear to Meyer Sign that in defining the timespan as beginning in the mid-19th century, an important and fascinating part of the shared history of Skagitonians would be missing. While acknowledging the westward immigrants’ contribution to pioneer history, Michelle Calvin and Tony Cladoosby of Beaver Tales Coffee wanted to tell a more inclusive story.

Beaver Tales Coffee has been serving customers in Skagit County and nationally since April 2019. They opened their retail location at 602 Morris Street in November 2022. This expansion allowed them to enhance their offerings and bring their services to a broader customer base. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to honor the spirit in which the company was founded. They feature fresh roasted coffee, blended teas and authentic indigenous artwork and products. They promote local artists and are planning educational programming and workshops in the new year.

In teaming up with Beaver Tales Coffee, Meyer Sign is using its media presence to record interviews with and about the First Peoples of the Magic Skagit. Together they are putting together an editorial calendar that has launched with a multi-part episode on the historical and cultural significance of the canoe in the lives of the Coast Salish people and speakers of the Lushootseed language. They also welcome and encourage questions from their podcast and social media followers about the First Peoples’ history, accomplishments and very real and vital presence in the lives of their Magic Skagit.