After a series of vandalizations, Lopezians from different sides of the political aisle band together for a new sign.
Dwight Lewis’s sign at Windsock Farm and Excavation Services along Ferry Road on Lopez Island has been the subject of controversy for years, involving vandalism, retaliation and even jail time for Lewis in 2021. But recently, several islanders worked with Lewis to come up with an agreement to change the sign from a pro-Trump sign to one which now reads “Lopez is for Lovers.”
The sign at Windsock Farm has a somewhat notorious past. As a 50-year conservative resident of Lopez Island, Lewis is not afraid to speak his mind, even though Lopez Island is a strongly progressive community, having voted almost four-to-one for Kamala Harris in 2024, with1,546 votes for Harris and 410 for Donald Trump.
Lewis initially put up a “Trump 2020” sign that was repeatedly vandalized. To retaliate, he mowed down a row of Black Lives Matter signs with his excavator and was found guilty in a jury trial of reckless endangerment and malicious mischief and sentenced to 15 days in jail.
He told Salish Current that he spent 11 days in jail in 2021, and they let him out four days early. To put an end to the fighting, Lopezians ceremoniously removed the Black Lives Matter signs.
It wasn’t his first time in jail. Lewis said back in the ‘70s he was found guilty of violating land use regulations by having more than one airplane in his hangar. Given the choice of paying $500 or spending a week in jail, he chose the week in jail. Fast forward to 2024, at which time Lewis installed a 4-foot-by-8-foot sign on his property that fronts Ferry Road. It said, “THANK GOD!! WE ARE SAVING AMERICA. TRUMP 2024.”
According to Lopez resident Sandy Bishop, the sign was offensive to a fair number of people. She said that “one person, Merv Coover, was so upset seeing that sign day after day that in January 2026 he took a knife and hacked at the sign.”
Coover, 68, admitted to the Current that he did the damage, saying, “I just got fed up with it.”
He decided to contact Lewis and apologize for the damage and pleaded with him to change the sign to something else.
Lewis told Coover that he needed to come up with a sign that they could both agree on, but neither could come up with mutual wording.
Sandy Bishop said she called Lewis and said, “Dwight, that sign is really ugly now and with Valentine’s Day coming up we need a more inviting sign welcoming people to the place we both love.”
Lewis responded that he was tired of the whole thing so, “you do whatever you want on that sign.” Bishop began brainstorming “love” ideas for the sign with Lopez Islander Clara Costa, who suggested the slogan “Lopez is for Lovers.”
Coover initially wasn’t sure about it but conceded that he would support it. Bishop, Coover and Costa worked up a new sign and got it printed at a print shop in Mount Vernon. Coover paid for it and transported it to Lopez. The three met at Windsock Farm, scaled the platform and attached the new sign.
“I’m letting you liberals have it,” Lewis told Salish Current. He admitted he had received a lot of positive comments on the new wording.
“Two people who hold vastly different beliefs, accepting each other as they are and collaborating despite the current social climate — it gets me excited about the future of this island,” reflected Costa.
Another Lopez resident, Joe Schneider, was so inspired that he made a box full of t-shirts that say “Lopez is for Lovers.”
—By Nancy DeVaux