If you’ve taken Mount Baker Highway in or out of Bellingham at any point in the last few years, you’ve probably noticed a marquee-style sign bearing tongue-in-cheek sayings.
One recent example: “Before the crowbar was invented crows had to drink at home.”
Walk up to the house nearby and you might meet Kevin Smeall and other occupants of the 12-acre property – both human (his wife and two of his kids) and non-human (60 chickens, seven goats, two dogs, one rabbit and one cat).
Smeall, 42, found the sign browsing the Bellingham Public Auto Auction website some years back and bought it just because it looked interesting.
Later, when his daughter was graduating high school, he decided to put up the sign with a message of congratulations. After that, he thought of putting up “a random dad joke.”
“Then it just became a thing” to refresh the sign about once a week, he said, though sometimes the change-out lapses for a while.
Now Smeall, nicknamed “the sign guy,” is somewhat of a local celebrity. He posts photos of the witticisms for the 318 followers on his Instagram profile and has been recognized at the grocery store and at school events.
“I figured now it’s part of the community,” he said, “and I have to keep it going.”
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Sophia Gates covers rural Whatcom and Skagit counties. She is a Washington State Murrow Fellow whose work is underwritten by taxpayers and available outside CDN's paywall. Reach her at sophiagates@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 131.
